TSX Up Firmly In Positive Territory, Looks Set To End On A Buoyant Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory Friday afternoon, led by gains in energy, materials, consumer and utilities sections.

Data showing a weaker than expected reading on service sector activity helped raise hopes that the Fed will continue to slow their aggressive pace on interest rate hikes.

Meanwhile, data from Statistics Canada showed the Canadian economy created 104,000 jobs in December of 2022, beating market expectations of an addition of 8,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate in Canada was at 5% in December of 2022, the lowest since the record-low of 4.9% in June and July, decreasing from 5.1% in the prior month and beating market estimates of 5.2%.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 2800.11 points or 1.44% at 19,786.95

The Energy Capped Index is rising 2.7%. Paramount Resources (POU.TO) is surging nearly 7% and Pason Systems (PSI.TO) is gaining 4.5%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) are up 2.5 to 3.4%.

In the materials section, Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) is gaining about 8%. Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO), Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Methanex Corp (MX.TO), Lundin Mining (LUN.TO), Filo Mining Corp (FIL.TO), Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO) and Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO) are up 4 to 6%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Park Lawn Corp (PLC.TO), Dollarama (DOL.TO) and Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) are up 2 to 3.5%.

In the consumer staples section, Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO), Empire Company (EMP.A.TO), Saputo (SAP.TO), Loblaw (L.TO), Primo Water Corp (PRMW.TO), Weston George (WN.TO) and Maple Leaf Foods (MFI.TO) are gaining 1 to 2%.

Emera Incorporated (EMA.TO), up 2%, is the top gainer in the Utilities Index. Transalta Corp (TA.TO), Northland Power (NPI.TO), Altagas (ALA.TO), Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO) and Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp (AQN.TO) are among the other major gainers in the section.