Canadian Market Up Firmly In Positive Territory; Resources Shares Rally

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory around noon on Wednesday, with materials and energy stocks spearheading the rally thanks to firm commodity prices.

Several stocks from consumer staples, industrials, utilities and consumer discretionary sectors are also up with strong gains.

Optimism about an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September helps underpin sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 237.41 or 1.08% at 22,279.91 about a quarter past noon.

The Materials Capped Index is up 2.3%. New Gold Inc (NGD.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Fortuna Silver Corp (FVI.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) and Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) are up 5 to 6.5%.

Aya Gold & Silver (AYA.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO) and Methanex Corp (MX.TO) are gaining 3 to 4.7%.

The Energy Capped Index is up 1.3%. Ces Energy Solutions (CEU.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), International Petroleum Corp (IPCO.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), Veren (VRN.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) are up 1.5 to 4%.

Industrials shares Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), Tfi International (TFII.TO), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), Finning International (FTT.TO), Cae Inc (CAE.TO) and Westshore Terminals (WTE.TO) are gaining 1.5 to 4%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Brp Inc (DOO.TO), Gildan Activewea (GIL.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Magna International (MG.TO), and consumer staples shares Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO), Primo Water Corp (PRMW.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), The North West Company (NWC.TO) and Loblaw (L.TO) are up with strong gains.

In the utilities sector, Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO) is up nearly 3%. Canadian Utilities (CU.TO), Hydro One (H.TO) and Emerca Incorporated (EMA.TO) are up 1 to 1.5%.