Canadian Stocks Starting New Year With Modest Gains -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks edged higher Friday morning as Bay Street re-opened following the New Year's break.

Despite continued weakness in the heavily-weighted energy sector, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 75 points, or 0.50 percent to begin the year at 14,703.65.

A similar pattern was seen last year, as the TSX rose 7.4 percent in 2014 despite a rough time for energy stocks amid a dramatic fall in crude oil prices.

The Energy Index was down 0.41 percent this morning, as U.S. crude oil held near a 5-year low around $52 a barrel.

Mining stocks are up 1 percent today, while tech shares are up almost as much.

The best performers on the composite index are Dream Unlimited, up 4.2 percent and Auto Canada, up 3 percent.

Ballard Power (BLD.TO) said it will not achieve its 2014 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance due to breaches of two contracts by Azure Hydrogen. Shares tumbled 10 percent.

Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) was up 1.3 percent after the Supreme Court of Chile declined to consider an appeal of a lower court decision regarding fines imposed on its Pascua-Lama mining project.