Canadian Edging Higher After Weak Start

(RTTNews) - After a weak start, the Canadian stock market was up marginally in positive territory around noon on Tuesday, led by gains in materials and select energy shares.

With Christmas and Boxing Day holidays ahead, investors were largely refraining from making significant moves. The market will close at 1 PM today for Christmas Eve.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 19.48 points, or 0.11%, at 17,148.19 a few minutes before noon, after having edged down to 17,095.22 earlier in the session.

On Monday, the index ended up 10.27 points, or 0.06% at 17,128.71, off a new all-time high of 17,166.39. It touched a low of 17,102.25 in the session.

The Capped Materials Index was up by about 2%. Oceanagold Corp. (OGC.TO), the top gainer in the index, was up 8%. MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO) and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) gained 5 to 6%.

Novagold (NG.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Ssr Mining (SSRM.TO), Kinross GOld (K.TO), Alamos Gold (AGI.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO) and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO) were gaining 3 to 5%.

In the energy section, Seven Generations Energy (VII.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Encana Corp (ECA.TO), PrairieSky Royalty (PSK.TO), Enerflex (EFX.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) gained 0.5 to 2%.

Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) and Restaurant Brands International (QSR.UN) were some of the notable gainers from other sectors.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO), Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) lost 0.7 to 2%.

CI Financial Corp. (CIX.TO) and One Capital Management, LLC announced that CI has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in One Capital, a registered investment advisor managing US$1.6 billion in client assets based in Westlake Village, California. CI Financial Corp shares were gaining about 0.8%.

Hydro One Limited (H.TO) announced that Susan Wolburgh Jenah has been appointed to the company's Board of Directors effective January 1st 2020. The stock was down by about 0.6%.