The Canadian stock market, which plunged sharply in early trades on Thursday, regained most of the lost ground subsequently and was down marginally about half an hour past noon.
Healthcare stocks, which suffered sharp losses in recent sessions, have come back strongly today. A few stocks from financial, utilities and telecom sectors are up with notable gains. Energy and materials shares are still mostly in negative territory despite paring much of their early losses.
Worries about rising coronavirus cases in Europe and extension of lockdown measures in several countries rendered the mood bearish at the start. Weak crude oil and bullion prices too hurt sentiment early on.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which plunged more than 150 points to 18,460.60, was down 8.43 points or 0.05% at 18,619,86 about forty-five minutes past noon.
Healthcare stocks Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO), Aphria Inc (APHA.TO) and Trillium Therapeutics (TRIL.TO) are gaining 2.5 to 3.3%, while Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) are up 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively.
Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), up 1.2 to 1.3%, are among the notable gainers in the financial space. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) are also notably higher.
Energy stocks Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO) and Seven Generations Energy (VII.TO) are down 2 to 5%.
Among materials shares, Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is down more than 6.5%. Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO) and Novagold (NG.TO) are lower by 2 to 3%.
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