Canadian Market Rises As Energy, Materials Shares Post Strong Gains

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory on Wednesday, riding on strong gains in materials and energy sectors thanks to higher commodity prices.

A few stocks from technology, healthcare, consumer discretionary and consumer staples sectors are also up in positive territory.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 147.25 points or 0.63% at 21,978.27 about half an hour past noon.

The Materials Capped Index is up 2.7%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is soaring more than 9%. Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO), Capstone Mining (CS.TO), Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Osisko Mining (OSK.TO) and Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) are gaining 6 to 8%. Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO, Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and New Gold Inc (NGD.TO) are also up sharply.

The Energy Capped Index is up 1.53%. Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO) is rising 3.5%. MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO), Kelt Exploration (KEL.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO) and Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) are advancing 2 to 3%.

Technology stocks Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO) and Copperleaf Technologies (CPLF.TO) are up 6.3% and 4.5%, respectively. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Bitfarms (BITF.TO) and BlackBerry (BB.TO) are gaining 2 to 3.5%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Mty Food Group (MTY.TO) and Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO) and consumer staples shares Maple Leaf Foods (MFI.TO) and Primo Water Corp (PRMW.TO) are up 1.5 to 2%.