Canadian Shares Bouncing Back Strongly After Severe Setback

(RTTNews) - After opening slightly lower and swiftly plunging deeper into the red, the Canadian stock market regained some lost ground Friday morning, riding on gains in technology, consumer discretionary and healthcare shares.

Materials stocks are down sharply on weak bullion prices. Energy stocks are off early lows, while financial, consumer staples, telecom and industrial shares are turing in a mixed performance.

Concerns over inflation and rising bond yields continue to hurt sentimet, prompting investors to stay cautious and ligten commitments.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which was down nearly 300 points at 17,929.99 at one stage, was down just 28.08 points or 0.14% at 18,195.45 about an hour past noon.

In the materials section, Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Novagold (NG.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Silvercorp Metals (SVM.TO), Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) and Osisko Mining (OSK.TO) are down 5 to 9%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Kinross Gold (K.TO) and Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO) are also down sharply.

Among energy stocks, Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) are down 1 to 4%.

Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), up 4.6%, is spearheading the rally in the technology space. Absolute Software Corp (ABST.TO) is gaining 3.6%, Photon Control (PHO.TO) is up 2.7% and Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) is rising 2.5%. Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO), Descartes Systems (DSG.TO), CGI Group (GIB.A.TO) and Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) are also up sharply.

Consumer discretionary stocks Brp Inc. (DOO.TO), Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO), Martinrea International (MRE.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) and Aritzia Inc. (ATZ.TO) and Dollarama (DOL.TO) are up 2 to 5.3%.

Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) is rising 2.5%, topping the Healthcare Index. Bausch today announced it will reduce debt by $100 million through the redemption of outstanding senior secured notes, using cash generated from operations.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's industrial product price index rose 2% month-over-month in January, after rising by an upwardly revised 1.7% in December. The index surged 4% year-on-year in January, compared to an earlier reading of a 3.8%.

Meanwhile, Canada's raw material price index was up 5.7% last month, after rising by 3.5% in December 2020.