Canadian Market Up Firmly, Looks Set To End On Strong Note

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is up firmly in positive territory Monday afternoon with stocks from several sectors rallying sharply on sustained buying interest ahead of some crucial economic data and speeches from Fed officials.

Energy stocks are leading the charge, thanks to higher crude oil prices. Utilities, communications, real estate, financials and consumer discretionary stocks are among the other major gainers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 228.60 points or 1.06% at 21,783.46.

Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) is up 5%. Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) is climbing 3.6%, while Onex Corporation (ONEX.TO), Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), George Weston (WN.TO) and EQB Inc (EQB.TO) are up 2.5 to 3.1%.

Intact Financial Corporation (IFC.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO) and TFI International (TFII.TO) are also notably higher.

Quebecor Inc (QBR.TO) is down nearly 7%. Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) is down with a loss of about 4.7%. Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO) and goeasy (GSY.TO) are down 1.3 to 3%.