Canadian Stocks Up Firmly In Positive Territory At Noon

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory around noon on Monday, led by strong gains in energy and financial sectors.

Several stocks from industrials, information technology and materials sections are also up with impressive gains as the mood remains fairly positive thanks to data showing a stronger than expected growth of the Chinese GDP in the October - December 2021 quarter.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 175.95 points or 0.82% at 21,533.51 a few minutes before noon.

The Capped Energy Index is up 1.6%. Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Peyto Exploration (PEY.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) and Secure Energy Services (SES.TO) are up 2 to 3%. Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corporation (TOU.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) are also up sharply.

The Capped Financials Index is climbing 1.2%. Canadian Western Bank (CWB.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) are gaining 1 to 2.5%.

Technology stocks Haivision Systems (HAI.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) are up 2.8% and 2.25%, respectively. CGI Group (GIB.A.TO), Opex Text Corp (OTEX.TO), Converge Technology Solutions Corp (CTS.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) and Evertz Technologies (ET.TO) are up 1 to 2%.

In the industrials section, Mullen Group (MTL.TO) is up 3.5% and Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) is gaining nearly 3%. Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO), Finning International (FII.TO) and Cae Inc (CAE.TO) are up 1.7% to 2.7%.

Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO), up nearly 5%, is the top gainer in the Materials Index. Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO) and Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO) both are up nearly 3%. Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO) is rising 2.5% and Nutrien (NTR.TO) is up 2.3%.

On the economic front, car Registrations in Canada decreased to 116,636 Units in November from 131,215 Units in October of 2021, data from Statistics Canada showed.

Manufacturing sales in Canada increased 2.6% from a month earlier to C$ 63.1 billion in November 2021, another data from Statistics Canada showed. That was down from an upwardly revised 4.6% rise in the previous month.

In news from China, the country's gross domestic product grew 4% in the fourth-quarter on a yearly basis, slower than the 4.9% expansion posted in the preceding quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday. However, the pace of growth was bigger than the economists' forecast of 3.6%. On a quarterly basis, China's GDP advanced 1.6% versus the expected growth of 1.1%.