Canadian Market Up Slightly In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is up slightly a little past noon on Thursday amid cautious moves by investors.

Optimism about economic recovery thanks to the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, and news about the European Union and the U.K. striking a post-Brexit trade agreement are aiding sentiment.

With the market scheduled to close at 1 PM ET for Christmas Eve, trading activity is quite subdued.

Shares from utilities and technology sections are finding support, while healthcare, energy and consumer discretionary stocks are weak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 11.16 points or 0.07% at 17,603.73 around noon. The index touched a low of 17,568.49 and a high of 17,641.69 earlier.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed the total value of building permits in Canada rose 12.9% to C$ 9.4 billion in November, the third highest on record. Building permits had plunged by a revised 12.6% a month earlier.

TransAlta Renewables Inc. (RNW.TO) shares are up 5.75% after TransAlta Corp. (TA.TO) announced that it is selling power transmission assets in Canada and the United States to its majority owned subsidiary TransAlta Renewables Inc. for $439 million. TransAlta Corp. shares are up 5%.

Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is gaining 5.3% and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) is up 5%. Docebo Inc. (DCBO.TO) and Boralex Inc. (BLX.TO) are up 3.2% and 3.1%, respectively.

Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO), Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) and CargoJet (CJT.TO) are up 1.3 to 2%.

Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) shares are down by about 5%. The company has filed a lawsuit against UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, alleging "continued, unauthorized use" of Canopy's patented processes for extracting cannabidiol or CBD from cannabis plant material. The lawsuit alleges that GW Pharma's anti-seizure drug, Epidiolex is produced using Canopy's patented extraction process.

Magna International (MG.TO), which ended with a hefty gain on Wednesday, is down by about 3.1% on profit taking. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) are also down sharply.