Canadian Market Up In Positive Territory; Technology Stocks Rise

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory in late morning trade on Monday, led by gains in technology and healthcare sectors.

Several stocks from real estate, energy, industrials and consumer discretionary sectors are also notably higher.

Easing worries about interest rate hikes following recent data showing a drop in consumer price inflation in the U.S. and Canada appear to be aiding sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 94.14 points or 0.46% at 20.597.35.

The Information Technology Index is rising 2.3%. Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) both are gaining about 7.5%. Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Payfare Inc (PAY.TO), Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Absolute Software Corp (ABST.TO) are up 2 to 5%.

In the healthcare section, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) is rising nearly 6.5% and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) is gaining 4%. Bellus Health Co (BLU.TO) shares are up 1.5%.

Real estate stocks Colliers International Group (CIGI.TO), Granite Real Estate (GRT.UN.TO), Crombie Real Estate (CRR.UN.TO), Tricon Capital Group (TCN.TO), CT Real Estate (CRT.UN.TO), Smartcentres Real Estate (SRU.UN.TO) and Primaris REIT (PMZ.UN.TO) are up 1 to 2%.

Among energy stocks, Africa Oil Corp (AOI.TO) is up 4.3%, while Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO) and MEG Energy (MEG.TO) are gaining 2 to 2.6%.

Industrials stocks Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO) and Cargojet (CJT.TO) are up 5.2% and 3.5%, respectively. Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA.TO), Exchange Iron Corp (EIF.TO), Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO) and Tfi International (TFII.TO) are up 2 to 3%.

In the consumer discretionary sector, Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) is up 3%, Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) is up 2.3% and Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) is rising 1.75%. Magna International (MG.TO) and Mty Food Group (MTY.TO) are also notably higher.

Data from Statistics Canada showed new home prices in Canada stalled from the prior month in December of 2022, holding the 0.2% decline in the previous month and compared to expectations of a 0.2% decline.

Canadian new housing prices rose by 3.9% year-on-year, the least since October of 2020, and slowing from the 4.1% rise in the previous month.