Canadian Market Up Nearly 1%, Looks Set To End On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory Wednesday afternoon, led by strong gains in materials, technology, consumer discretionary and industrials sectors.

The mood remains positive following U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick hinting at some potential adjustments for U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico, noting that carve-outs for some industries are a possibility. "There are going to be tariffs, let's be clear," Lutnick reportedly told Bloomberg Wednesday morning in a live interview. "It will be 25% but.....there will be some categories left out; it could well be autos, could be others as well," he said.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which opened slightly weak, remained a bit sluggish till noon, and then climbed higher. The index was up 235.22 points or 0.95% at 24,807.22 a little while ago.

Ivanhoe Mines is rising 12.5%. Bombardier Inc. is up 10%, while First Quantum Minerals, Canadian Tire Corporation, Telesat Corporation, Teck Resources, Docebo Inc., Magna International, GFL Environmental and Lundin Gold are up 4.3 to 8%.

Cogeco Inc., Linamar Corporation, Aritzia Inc., Onex Corporation, goeasy, BRP Inc., Premium Brands Holdings, Cogeco Communications, Constellation Software, West Fraser Timber, Loblaw Companies and TC Energy Corp are up 2 to 4%.

NuVista Energy is gaining more than 2.5%. The company reported net earnings of $99.15 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to $89.51 million in the year-ago quarter.

VersaBank (VBNK.TO) is plunging 13%. The bank reported net income of C$8.14 million for the quarter ended 31 January 2025, compared with net income of C$5.5 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

On the economic front, the S&P Global Canada Composite PMI declined to 46.8 in February 2025, down from 49.5 in January, marking the steepest contraction in private sector output since January 2024.

The S&P Global Canada Services PMI plummeted to 46.6 in February of 2025 from 49 in the previous month, contracting for the third consecutive month.

Productivity in Canada increased to 102.37 points in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 101.78 points in the third quarter of 2024, data from Statistics Canada said.