Canadian Shares Up Sharply At Noon On Widespread Buying

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory around noon on Friday, with stocks from across several sectors rising sharply from recent losses.

Despite worries about slowing growth, global stocks moved higher today, setting up the stage for the Canadian market.

Materials and energy stocks are up with strong gains, tracking higher commodity prices. Financials, consumer staples, consumer discretionary and real estate stocks are also sharply higher.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 320 points or 1.67% at 19,462.72 a few minutes past noon.

The Materials Capped Index is surging 3.25%. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO), Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO), Lundin Mining (LUN.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO) and Osisko Mining (OSK.TO) are gaining 5 to 6.5%.

Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) is up 3.75%. The company said that it agreed to sell a portfolio of royalties to Maverix Metals Inc. for total consideration of up to US$60 million.

The total consideration of $60 million consists of $50 million in cash payable on closing of the Portfolio sale, subject to the exercise of any right of first refusal or buy-down right by the counterparties under certain royalties, and three contingent payments.

The Energy Capped Index is up 2.6%. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is rising 4.8%. Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Freehold Royalties (FRU.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO) and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) are gaining 2.5 to 4%.

Among financial shares, Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF.TO) is rising 2.3%. The company said that it plans to acquire a 51% interest in Advisors Asset Management, Inc. or AAM for US$214 million subject to customary adjustments with a put/call option to acquire the remaining 49% starting in 2028.

Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO) are up 1.5 to 2.5%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) is up 4.3%. Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Brp Inc (DOO.TO), Canadian Tire Corp (CTC.A.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO) and Dollarama (DOL.TO) are gaining 1 to 3%.

Consumer staples shares Jamieson Wellness (JWEL.TO), Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO), Metro Inc (MRU.TO), The North West Co (NWC.TO), Weston George (WN.TO) and Loblaw (L.TO) are up 1 to 1.6%.

On the economic front, labor productivity for Canadian businesses rose 0.2% in the second quarter, after falling 0.5% in the previous quarter, data from Statistics Canada showed. This was the first increase in productivity since the second quarter of 2020.