Canadian Market Up Firmly In Positive Territory After BoC Holds Rates

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market remains firmly up in positive territory Wednesday morning, led by gains in communications, real estate, consumer discretionary and financial sectors.

Energy and materials stocks are showing some weakness, while shares from rest of the sectors are turning in a mixed performance.

In addition to following the reports from the Middle East front, investors are digesting the Bank of Canada's decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 35,479.31 earlier this morning, was up 80.74 points or 0.23% at 35,401.28 a little while ago.

The Canadian central bank today left its interest rates unchanged as widely expected, at 2.25%. The bank rate stands at 2.5% and the deposit rate remains at 2.2%.

The BoC said its Governing Council judges the current policy rate remains appropriate to sustain the economic recovery and bring inflation back to the 2% target. The central bank said its Governing Council will continue to assess the strength of the Canadian economy and the outlook for inflation and is prepared to adjust monetary policy as needed.

The central bank also said the Canadian economy is showing signs of improvement, with growth picking up and inflation projected to ease gradually from its recent spike. However, it noted there are still important risks and uncertainties related to the war in the Middle East and U.S. trade policy.

Communications stocks Rogers Communications and BCE Inc. are up 3% and 2.5%, respectively. Cogeco Communications is rising 1.8% and Telus Corporation is up 1.7%.

Colliers International Group, up 8.1%, is the biggest gainer in the real estate sector. Altus Group and FirstService Corporation are moving up 3.9% and 3.3%, respectively. Allied Properties Real Estate and Boardwalk Real Estate Investment are also up with strong gains.

Consumer discretionary stocks Gildan Activewear and Brp Inc. are up 3.1% and 2.5%, respectively. Magna International, Dollarama, Canadian Tire Corporation, Linamar and Restaurant Brands International are gaining 1.2%-2%.

In the financials sector, EQB is up more than 4.5%. Brookfield Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management are up 3.1% and 3%, respectively. Manulife Financial, Sprott, IA Financial Corporation, Igm Financial and National Bank of Canada are also up with impressive gains.

BlackBerry, Celestica, Teck Resources, Baytex Energy, SsrMining, Parex Resources, CAE, OceanaGold, Precision Drilling and Enerflex are down 2%-4%.

Worries about persisting Middle East tensions weigh on sentiment, resulting in a somewhat cautious mood in the market.

U.S. forces resumed the naval blockade against vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas, and President Donald Trump threatened to hit energy targets in Iran.

Iran's IRGC warned of targeting oil routes for U.S. allies after launching a pre-dawn strike on the U.S. AI-Azraq Air Base in Jordan. Missile alert warnings went out in Bahrain and Kuwait early today as they faced incoming Iranian fire.