Canadian Market Extending Recent Gains; Energy Stocks Move Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up in positive territory a little past noon on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session, as investors continue to cheer Wednesday's soft inflation data from the U.S.

Energy stocks are up sharply, tracking higher crude oil prices. Healthcare and consumer staples stocks are the other major gainers. Several stocks from technology, consumer discretionary, financials and communications sectors are also notably higher.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 122.11 points or 0.61% at 20,008.05 a few minutes past noon. The index rose to a high of 20,100.55.

The Energy Capped Index is gaining about 2.7%. Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) are up 3 to 5%.

Africa Oil Corp. (AOI.TO) reported that its second quarter net income dropped to $5.65 million or $0.01 per share from $38.38 million or $0.08 per share in the prior year. The stock is gaining more than 2%.

Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), up nearly 11%, is the top gainer in the Health Care Index, which is up 1.7%. Cronos Group (CRON.TO) is gaining 1.3%.

Primo Water Corp (PRMW.TO), up 7.8%, is the top gainer in the Consumer Staples Index. The company reported second-quarter net loss of $23 million or $0.14 per share, wider than last year's net loss of $8 million or $0.05 per share.

The North West Co (NWC.TO) is gaining nearly 4%. Loblaw (L.TO), Metro Inc (MRU.TO), Premium Brands Holdings (PBH.TO), Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO), Empire Co (EMP.A.TO) and Weston George (WN.TO) are up 1 to 2%.

In the technology section, Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) is soaring 15%. Sylogist (SYL.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) and Dye & Durham (DND.TO) are up 6.8%, 4.2% and 3.5%, respectively.

Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS.TO) is plunging 14% after the company reported a second quarter net loss of $173.6 million or $0.83 per basic share, compared to net income of $71.24 million or $0.34 per basic share in the prior year.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM) is gaining abotu 1%. The company announced that its second -quarter net income attributable to common shareholders was $590 million, compared to $816 million a year ago. Net income per share was $0.34, down from $0.49 last year.

Canadian Tire Corporation Limited (CTC.TO) reported net income of $177.6 million for the second quarter of the current financial year, down from $395.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The stock is down marginally.