(RTTNews) - Despite concerns about geopolitical tensions and economic slowdown, the Canadian market remains firmly up in positive territory a little past noon on Tuesday, led by strong gains in energy and materials sections.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 207.50 points or 1.04% at 20,184.63 a few minutes past noon.
The Materials Capped Index is up 2.8%. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is soaring nearly 10%. Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO), K92 Mining Inc (KNT.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO) and Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO) are gaining 6 to 8%, while Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO) and Sandsome Gold (SSL.TO) are up 5.3% and 5.2%, respectively.
Lundin Gold (LUG.TO) is up more than 16%. Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) are also up sharply.
The Energy Capped Index is up 2.21%. Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), Prairiesky Royalty (PSK.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) and Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO) are up 3 to 4%.
George Weston (WN.TO) is rising more than 2.5%. The company reported adjusted net earnings of $453 million for the third quarter, an increase of $88 million , or 24.1% over the year-ago quarter.
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO) is gaining 2.5%. Goeasy (GSY.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and WSP Global (WSP.TO) are also notably higher.
In economic news, preliminary estimates showed retail sales in Canada likely jumped by 1.5% month-over-month in October of 2022. Retail sales increased 6.9% in September of 2022 over the same month in the previous year.
Wholesale sales in Canada rose 1.3% from a month earlier in October 2022, following a meager 0.1% advance in September and easily beating market expectations of a 0.4% growth, a preliminary estimate showed.
Meanwhile, new home prices for Canada were down by 0.2% from a month earlier in October of 2022, following a 0.1% decline in September. New home prices increased by 5.1% from a year earlier in October 2022, easing from a 6.3% gain in September. It was the softest reading since December 2020.
