Energy, Materials Shares Lift Canadian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is modestly higher in early afternoon trades on Monday with stocks from energy and materials sectors posting strong gains.

Healthcare and technology stocks are weak, and the overall mood in the market is quite cautious amid a lack of positive triggers. Worries about inflation and escalation in tensions in Ukraine continue to weigh on sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which advanced to 21,937.66, was up 41.11 points or 0.2% at 21,896.81 about half an hour past noon.

The Energy Capped Index is climbing 2.85%. Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Freehold Royalties (FRU.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), Peyto Exploration and Development Corp (PEY.TO) and Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO) are up 4.5 to 6.3%.

The Materials Capped Index is up 1.6%. Capstone Mining (CS.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), New Gold (NGD.TO), Oceanagold (OGC.TO) and K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO) are up 2 to 5.4%.

In the healthcare section, Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) is plunging 8.5%. Cronos Group (CRON.TO), Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) are down 5 to 6%. Well Health Technologies (WELL.TO) is lower by about 3.3%.

Technology stock Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) is down nearly 6%. Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO), Magnet Forensics (MAGT.TO), Telus International (TIXT.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO), Haivision Systems (HAI.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) are down 3 to 5%.