Canadian Market Pares Early Gains, Down Slightly At Noon

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down slightly a little past noon on Tuesday after having moved higher early on in the session thanks to gains in energy and materials sectors thanks to firm commodity prices. Trade war concerns, and political uncertainty in Canada following the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weigh on stocks.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 25,197.00 after opening at 25,059.89, is down 7.05 points or 0.03% at 24,992.74 a few minutes past noon.

The Energy Capped Index is up 1.4%. Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) is gaining more than 5%, Headwater Exploration (HWX.TO) is climbing 4.5%, while Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Veren Inc (VRN.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) are up 3 to 4%. MEG Energy (MEG.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) are up 2.75% and 1.3%, respectively.

The Materials Capped Index is up 1.5%. Oceanagold Corp (OGC.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (AG.TO), Fortuna Silver Corp (FVI.TO), New Gold (NGD.TO), Aya Gold & Silver (AYA.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), Centerra Gold (CG.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) are gaining 3 to 4.2%.

Communications stocks Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) and Quebecor Inc (QBR.TO) are rising 4% and 2.1%, respectively. Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO) and Telus Corp (T.TO) are up 1.1% and 1%, respectively.

GFL Environmental Inc. (GFL.TO) is down 1.7%. The company announced that it will sell its environmental services division to Apollo Global Management and BC Partners in a deal valued at C$ 8 billion.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed the nation's trade deficit stood at C$ 0.32 billion in November, narrowing from an upwardly revised C$ 0.54 billion gap in the previous month.

Exports increased by 2.2% to C$ 66.1 billion, while imports rose by 1.8% to C$ 66.4 billion.

A report from the Ivey Business School said the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada rose to 54.7 in December, up from 52.3 in November.