Canadian Market Turning In Mixed Performance

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are turning in a mixed performance on Friday with investors reacting to the latest updates from the geopolitical front, and tracking commodity prices and the latest batch of economic data. Energy, materials and communications stocks are among the prominent gainers. Technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary stocks are down sharply. Financials shares are mixed.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 22.64 points or 0.11% at 21,227.77 a few minutes past noon. The index touched a low of 21,198.58 and a high of 21,323.12 this morning.

The Capped Energy Index is up 2%. Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO) and Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) are up 2 to 3%.

In the materials section, Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), K92 Mining Corp (KNT.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Nutrien (NTR.TO) are gaining 3 to 4%.

Communications stocks Quebecor Inc (QBR.B.TO) and BCE Inc (BCE.TO) are up 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively. Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO), Telus Corp (T.TO) and Shaw Communications (SJR.B.TO) are also notably higher.

In the technology space, Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) is down more than 10%. The company reported net income of $21.6 million or $0.39 per diluted share for the quarter ended January 2022, compared to $20.6 million or $0.37 per diluted share last year.

Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Viq Solutions (VQS.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO) and Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) are down 4 to 8%. Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Tscsys Inc (TCS.TO) and Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) are among the other major losers in the technology sector.

In the healthcare section, Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO), Well Health Technologies (WELL.TO), Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) are down 2.8 to 5.2%.

On the economic front, the value of building permits in Canada fell 8.8% month-over-month to C$ 10.2 billion in January of 2022, data from Statistics Canada showed. In December 2021, building permits had dropped up by an upwardly revised 2.4%.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed labour productivity in Canada declined by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2021, easing from the downwardly revised 1.2% decline in the previous quarter and marking the sixth consecutive quarterly decrease.

The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada increased to 60.6 in February of 2022 from 50.7 in the prior month, signalling a continued improvement in business conditions in Canada, a report from the Richard Ivey School of Business said. It was the highest reading since November 2021.