Canadian Market Up Firmly In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory Friday afternoon, with the benchmark index hovering at over 2-month high.

Healthcare, industrials, communications, energy and consumer staples shares are finding support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 117.84 points or 0.58% at 20,554.71.

Bitfarms (BITF.TO), Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO), Athabasca Oil Corporation (ATH.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Telus Corporation (T.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Air Canada (AC.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) gained 1 to 5% on strong volumes.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed retail sales advanced by 0.2% in May, revised lower from the first estimate of a 0.5% increase. On yearly basis, retail sales increased 0.5% in May over the same month in the previous year.

Another data from Statistics Canada showed new home prices in Canada fell by 0.7% from the previous year in June 2023, extending slightly the 0.6% drop in May.