After a positive start and a subsequent fall into negative territory, the Canadian stock market edged higher Monday morning and is up marginally about an hour past noon, supported by gains in consumer staples and telecom shares.
Healthcare and information technology stocks are weak. Several stocks from energy and consumer discretionary sections are also down in negative territory.
Amid a lack of fresh triggers, activity is mostly stock specific with investors reacting to quarterly earnings and other corporate news.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 11.40 or 0.06% at 19,484.14 an hour past noon. Earlier, after advancing to a new high at 19,543.88, the index dropped to a low of 19,451.94.
Consumer staples stocks Weston George (WN.To), Empire Co. (EMP.A.TO) and Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.B.TO) are gaining 3.2%, 2.15% and 2%, respectively. Metro Inc. (MRU.TO) is rising 1.7% and Loblaw Co (L.TO) is gaining about 1.35%.
Amont telecom stocks, Quebecor (QBR.B.TO) and Acuityads Holdings (AT.TO) are gaining more than 2% each, while Rogers Communications (RCI.B.TO), Telus Corp (T.TO) and BCE Inc (BCE.TO) are up 1 to 1.2%.
Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO), which rose sharply in the previous session, is the biggest loser in the Healthcare index today, having shed about 6.6%. Aphria Inc (APHA.TO) is declining 5.6% and Cronos Group (CRON.TO) is down 5.1%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) and Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) are down 4.3% and 4.4%, respectively.
In the technology section, Lightspeed Pos (LSPD.TO) is down more than 5%, while Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO), Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) are down 2.8 to 3.5%.
Energy shares Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) are down 1 to 1.7%. Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) is gaining about 1.8%.
Ensign Energy Services (ESI.TO) is down more than 3.5% after the company reported a wider loss. Ensign reported a loss of $43.6 million or 27 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $29.3 million or 18 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation (WTE.TO) shares are up nearly 6% after the company said its profit in the quarter increased slightly to $29.6 million in the first quarter of 2021 from $29.1 million during the same period of 2020.
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