Canadian Market Up In Positive Territory As Energy Stocks Rally

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory a little past noon on Wednesday, with stocks from energy sector rallying sharply, tracking higher crude oil prices.

The undertone is firm after data from the U.S. Labor Department showed a modest decrease in producer prices in the month of August.

Data from the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand edged down by 0.1% in August after falling by a revised 0.4% in July.

The report also showed the annual rate of growth in producer prices slowed to 8.7% in August from 9.8% in July, roughly in line with estimates.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 125.57 points or 0.63% at 19,770.97 nearly half an hour past noon.

The Energy Capped Index is up 3.4%. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVE.TO), Baytex Energy Corp (BTE.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), ARC Resources (ARX.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Prairiesky Royalty (PSK.TO) are gaining 3 to 6%.

Healthcare stock Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is surging nearly 6%. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is gaining about 1.2%.

In the materials section, New Gold Inc (NGD.TO) is soaring nearly 10%. Oceanagold Corp (OGC.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Centerra Gold (CG.TO), Sandstorm Gold (SSL.TO) and Equinox Gold (EQX.TO) are up 3 to 6%.

Technology stocks Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), Telus International (TIXT.TO), Softchoice Corp (SFTC.TO) and Alithya Group (ALYA.TO) are rising 2 to 4%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) are among the notable gainers in the financials sector.

On the economic front, final data from Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales in the country fell 0.9% month-over-month in July of 2022, falling for the third consecutive month, and in line with preliminary estimates.