TORONTO: Canada’s main stock index extended gains to scale an all-time peak on Friday, keeping it on course for a second straight weekly rise, with cannabis stocks leading gains in the healthcare sector.
At 9:45 a.m. ET (14:45 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 65.55 points, or 0.3%, at 21,647.53.
Healthcare stocks jumped 3.6%, boosted by gains in pot producers Tilray Inc, Aurora Cannabis Inc and Canopy Growth Corp, which were up between 6.9% and 8.6% in early trade.
“There’s some optimism that the US is going to pass the marijuana legalization bill and that will open up to more investment opportunities,” said Gregory Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.
Toronto-listed technology stocks rose 1.4%, tracking gains in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index in the United States.
“We’ve got bond yields pulling back a little bit from the moves that we had after the US CPI numbers and that’s probably something good for the tech sector,” Taylor added.
Weakness in bond yields tend to help companies with high growth prospects, boosting the value of future cash flows. A big jump in US consumer prices for October drove a retreat in the main index on Wednesday.
The equity index was set to end the week on a strong note, helped by gains in healthcare and materials sectors. The benchmark index has rallied for most of this week, as stronger bullion prices, positive moves in cannabis-related stocks and upbeat corporate earnings bolstered investors’ sentiment.
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