Canadian Market Holds In Positive Territory; TSX Hits New Peak

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market has scaled a new peak Friday, lifted by strong gains in energy, industrials and consumer discretionary sections.

The mood is fairly bullish amid continued optimism about global economic growth and higher crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 95.40 points or about 0.5% at 20,144.87, a few points off a new high of 20,151.54 it touched this morning.

Among energy shares, Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) is soaring more than 8%. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is gaining 2.3%, while Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) are up 1 to 1.5%.

In the industrials section, Brookfield Business Partners (BBU.UN.TO) and Mullen Group (MTL.TO) are up 2.75% and 2.5%, respectively. Air Canada (AC.TO) is up by about 2.1%. Westshore Terminals (WTE.TO), Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA.TO), Ballard Power Systems (BLDP.TO) and Stantec Inc (STN.TO) are gaining 1.5 to 1.8%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) and Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) are up 3.2% and 3%, respectively. Brp Inc (DOO.TO) is up 1.8%, while Dollarama (DOL.TO) and Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.A.TO) both are up nearly 1%.

Technology stock Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) is down 4.4% on weak results. The company announced on Thursday that it posted a net income of $20.7 million in the second quarter, compared with $27.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Data from Statistics Canada showed Canadian industries operated at 81.7% of their production capacity in the first quarter of 2021, following an upwardly revised 79.7%. Economists expected capacity utilisation to come in at 80.6%.