Canadian Shares Turning In Mixed Performance In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are turning in a mixed performance Thursday morning with investors tracking commodity prices and continuing to react to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting that indicated a series of rate hikes in the near term.

Worries about the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, and caution ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data also contribute to the somewhat sluggish movements in the market.

Energy stocks are moving higher. Several stocks from consumer staples, real estate and financials sectors are also up in positive territory. Materials and healthcare stocks are weak. Technology, consumer discretionary and industrial shares are mixed.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 44.33 points or 0.21% at 21,083.97 about half an hour before noon.

Cenvous Energy (CVE.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) are gaining 2 to 5%.

BlackBerry (BB.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO), Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH.TO), Nuvei Corp (NVEI.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO), BRP Inc (DOO.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) are among the other prominent gainers.

B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO), Bombardier Inc (BBD.B.TO) and Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) are down 2 to 3%.

Stelco Holdings (STLC.TO) shares are plunging more than 10%. Newcrest Mining (NCM.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) are down 3.7 to 6%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's trade surplus surged to C$ 3.13 billion in November 2021 from an upwardly revised surplus of C$ 2.26 billion, surpassing market estimates of a C$ 2.03 billion surplus. It was the largest trade surplus in thirteen years.

Exports from Canada increased by 3.8% over a month to a record high of C$ 58.6 billion in November, while imports increased by 2.4% over a month to a record high of C$ 55.4 billion in the month.