Canadian Stocks Are Climbing As Oil Prices Rise -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is gaining ground Monday morning, but are slightly off their highs. Energy stocks are leading the way higher, as the price of oil is rising for the third consecutive session. Mining stocks are also providing support, as the price of precious metals are increasing.

Conversely, markets in Europe are mostly lower this morning, due to continued anxiety over the situation in Greece. Alexis Tsipras, who leads the anti austerity government in Greece, said his government has no plans for an extension of the bailout program, but would seek a gradual roll-back of austerity. He also noted that his campaign against austerity is 'irreversible' and the first priority is to tackle the big wounds of the bailout.

The bailout program offered to Greece by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF will be expiring on February 28. Greece has tried to renegotiate the bailout terms, however the EU rejected the request, saying that the bailout conditions were generous. Meanwhile, the ECB has instructed Greek banks not to access credit by using Greek government bonds or bonds guaranteed by the government.

Markets in the United States are struggling to find direction this morning. There is no U.S. economic data to drive trading this morning and there is very little upcoming data scheduled for release this week. Investors will be watching for the release of the retail sales data for January on Thursday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 62.93 points or 0.42 percent at 15,146.85. The market reached an early high of 15,168.05.

On Friday, the index closed down 41.00 points or 0.27 percent, at 15,083.92. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,204.45 and a low of 15,025.64.

The Energy Index is rising again this morning, increasing by 1.52 percent. Oil prices are extending gains from the previous two trading sessions, after OPEC has reduced its forecasts for non-OPEC oil-supply growth in 2015.

In its monthly report, the industry group cut its estimate for non-OPEC supply growth by 420,000 barrels per day to average around 850,000 bpd in 2015, led by a reduction of 130,000 barrels per day in the U.S. due to the slowdown in the shale boom. Estimates for Colombia, Canada and Yemen were also reduced.

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is higher by 0.33 percent and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is increasing by 1.02 percent. Encana (ECA.TO) is climbing by 2.10 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is gaining 1.55 percent. MEG Energy (MEG.TO) is up 3.28 percent and Bonterra Energy (BNE.TO) is advancing by 2.73 percent.

Legacy Oil + Gas (LEG.TO) is rising by 2.27 percent and Pacific Rubiales Energy (PRE.TO) is surging by 4.76 percent. Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) is adding 0.77 percent and CrescentPoint Energy (CPG.TO) is higher by 2.02 percent.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is also rising by 1.68 percent. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is up 0.77 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is advancing by 3.98 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is increasing by 2.40 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is rising by 2.90 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is climbing by 1.05 percent and Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ.TO) is adding 0.79 percent.

Rio Alto Mining (RIO.TO) is soaring by 10.98 percent, while Tahoe Resources (THO.TO) is sinking by 8.56 percent. The companies have agreed to combine their respective businesses and create a new, leading intermediate precious metals producer with several value-enhancing growth opportunities.

The Gold Index is advancing by 1.34 percent, as the price of gold attempts to rebound from recent weakness. Investors fearing riskier investments are flocking to safe havens like gold this morning, due to concerns over Greece.

Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is increasing by 1.25 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is gaining 1.89 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is up 1.98 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is adding 0.77 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is also rising by 2.86 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also gaining 0.55 percent, mostly on the rise in gold stocks. Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is up 0.45 percent and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is gaining 0.76 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is also up 0.29 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index climbing by 0.75 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is higher by 0.42 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is gaining 1.26 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is up 1.00 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is advancing by 0.72 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is rising by 0.60 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is climbing by 0.44 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is down 0.96 percent. TELUS Corp. (T.TO) is down 1.51 percent and Rogers Communication (RCI-B.TO) is lower by 0.22 percent.

The Capped Health Care Index is losing 0.77 percent. Catamaran (CCT.TO) is lower by 0.27 percent and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is down 1.35 percent. Extendicare (EXE.TO) is also falling by 0.29 percent.

Oncolytics Biotech (ONC.TO) is increasing by 7.55 percent. The company has filed for orphan drug designation with the FDA for high grade gliomas.

Savaria Corp. (SIS.TO) is climbing by 4.04 percent. The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.04.

Bombardier (BBD-A.TO) is declining by 1.30 percent. The company announced that American Airlines Inc. has signed a firm order for 24 CRJ900 NextGen regional jets.

On the economic front, China's trade surplus rose to a record high in January as imports plunged at the fastest rate in more than five years and export unexpectedly declined, figures from the customs office showed Sunday.

The trade surplus came in at $60 billion in January, more than the $48.20 billion expected by economists. In December, the surplus was at $49.61 billion. The surplus for January beat the previous record of a $54.4 billion surplus recorded in November.

Germany's trade surplus, exports and imports reached record highs in 2014, provisional data from Destatis revealed Monday.

Exports increased 3.7 percent to EUR 1,133.6 billion in 2014 and imports climbed 2 percent to EUR 916.5 billion. In 2014, export and import levels were higher than the previous all-time highs recorded in 2012.

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 217.0 billion in 2014, which was the highest value ever recorded. A year ago, the surplus totaled EUR 195 billion.

Eurozone investor sentiment rose sharply to the highest since May 2014 on the back of quantitative easing announced by the European Central Bank, survey data from the think tank Sentix showed Monday. The investor confidence index for February rose to 12.4 from 0.9 in January. This was the highest score since May 2014 and far exceeded an expected score of 3.

In commodities, crude oil futures for March delivery are up $1.53 or 2.96 percent at $53.22 a barrel.

Natural gas for March is up $0.013 or 0.50 percent at $2.592 per million btu.

Gold futures for April are up $5.40 or 0.44 percent at $1,240.00 an ounce.

Silver for March is up $0.346 or 2.07 percent at $17.04 an ounce.