Canadian Market Marching Towards Another Strong Close

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up fairly sharply Friday afternoon, extending gains to a third session, with stocks from energy and materials sectors posting strong gains thanks to rising commodity prices.

Rising hopes that the Fed will be less aggressive with its rate hikes in the coming months contribute as well to market's move up north.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 236.43 points or 1.23% at 19,693.14.

The Energy Capped Index is up 2.8%. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is climbing nearly 5.5% on strong results. The company reported estimated net income in the second quarter of $2,409 million, up from $1,173 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) are gaining 3 to 5.2%.

Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO), up nearly 11%, tops the list of gainers in the Materials section. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is up 9.2%, Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO) is rising 8%, Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) is surging 7.8% and Ero Copper (ERO.TO) is advancing 7.5%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) are among the other major gainers in the sector.

Tfi International (TFII.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO), Mullen Group (MTL.TO), Finning International (FTT.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO), Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Stantec (STN.TO) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO), gaining between 2 to 4%, are the prominent gainers in the materials sector.

In the financials section, Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Manulife Financial (MFC.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) are up 1 to 3%.

Magna International Inc. (MG.TO) reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.83 for the second quarter, compared to $1.40 in the year-ago quarter. The company said it now expects fiscal 2022 total sales in a range of $37.6 - $39.2 billion, revised from prior guidance range of $37.3 - $38.9 billion. The company continues to project adjusted EBIT margin in a range of 5.0% - 5.4%. The stock is up marginally.

Data from Statistics Canada showed the nation's real Gross Domestic Product camed in unchanged in May. GDP increased 0.1% in June, the data showed.

According to a report released by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Canada's CFIB's Business Barometer long-term optimism index fell for a fourth consecutive month in July, dropping to 52.7, the lowest since May of 2020.