Canadian Market Rises On Energy, Tech Gains Tuesday

(RTTNews) - After a slightly weak start and a subsequent further drop, the Canadian market emerged into positive territory Tuesday morning, supported by strong gains in energy and technology sectors.

Communications, utilities and real estate stocks drifted lower, while stocks from the rest of the sectors turned in a mixed performance.

A lack of meaningful progress in Iran-U.S. talks and uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz rendered the mood cautious. Investors digested quarterly earnings updates and looked ahead to some crucial U.S. economic data due this week.

While last week's solid Canadian jobs data could signal a hawkish stance from the Bank of Canada, soft U.S. non-farm payroll data might prompt the Federal Reserve to hold rates for now.

Iran and Oman remain short of a final deal as Tehran demanded major U.S. concessions, including compensation, the lifting of sanctions, and an end to military threats, before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran's new demands raised concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump may relaunch the military option that he shelved only days ago.

However, in an interview with Axios on Sunday, Trump signaled patience and suggested that he's prepared to allow economic pressure on Iran to mount rather than escalate militarily.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which slipped to 36,298.60 in early trades, was up 73.37 points or 0.2% at 36,454.60 a little while ago.

Energy stocks Precision Drilling, Vermilion Energy, Baytex Energy, Suncor Energy, Cenovus Energy, Ensign Energy Services, Canadian Natural Resources, Imperial Oil, Parex Resources, Whitecap Resources and Advantage Oil & Gas gained 2.5%-5.2%.

Saputo, Interfor, Methanex, Bausch Health Companies, Bombardier, Eldorado Gold, First Majestic Silver, Thomson Reuters, Constellation Software, Shopify, Silvercorp Metals, Kinaxis and First Quantum Minerals were among the prominent gainers from other sectors.

Barrick Gold dropped more than 7%, weighed down by second quarter results that fell short of expectations.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems, Altus, Quebecor, Air Canada, Cogeo Cable, Torex Gold Resources, Canadian Utilities, Real Matters, Aecon, Telus, Lundinn Gold, Colliers International, Hydro One, Atco and Loblaw Companies lost 1.6%-5%.