Canadian Market Up Sharply On Broad-based Buying Despite Trade Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory a little past noon on Tuesday, lifted by strong gains in energy, financials, healthcare and technology stocks. Several stocks from consumer discretionary, utilities and real estate sectors are also up with impressive gains.

Despite lingering concerns about the trade war, and the stand-off between U.S. President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, investors are picking up stocks, looking ahead to earnings updates and some crucial economic data due this week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 365.63 points or 1.52% at 24,347.49 a little while ago.

Healthcare stock Bausch Health Companies is up nearly 9%. Tilray Inc. is gaining about 3.3%.

In the energy sector, Imperial Oil is up nearly 4%. Advantage Oil & Gas, Canadian Natural Resources, Vermilion Energy, Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy and International Petroleum Corp are gaining 2 to 3.1%.

Among technology stocks, Bitfarms is soaring more than 12%. Lightspeed Commerce, Celestica, Sangoma Technologies Corp., BlackBerry, Sylogist, Shopify and Docebo Inc are up 2 to 3.1%.

Financials stocks Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Corporation, Onex Corp., Manulife Financial, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Sprott Inc., Power Corporation of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce are gaining 1.5 to 3%.

Aritzia, Magna International, Gildan Activewear, Canadian Tire Corporation, Linamar Corp and Pet Valu Holdings are the major gainers in the consumer discretionary sector.

In economic news, data from Statistics Canada said industrial producer prices in Canada rose by 0.5% over a month in March, following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase in February. This marked the sixth consecutive monthly increase. On a yearly basis, producer prices advanced by 4.7%.

Meanwhile, the Raw Materials Price Index, which measures the prices of inputs purchased by Canadian manufacturers, declined by 1.0% over a month but increased by 3.9% on a yearly basis.