TORONTO: Energy stocks helped Canada’s main stock index rise on Monday, as oil prices jumped after concerns around the Omicron coronavirus variant eased, although weakness in pot producers limited gains. At 9:46 a.m. ET (1446 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 53.94 points, or 0.26%, at 20,687.21.
The energy sector jumped 1.3% as oil climbed by $2 a barrel on hopes the Omicron coronavirus variant would have a less damaging economic impact if its symptoms proved mostly mild.
“Markets are probably going to be volatile until we get through the Federal Reserve meeting, which is next week and so there’s going to be people that are going to be holding off till you see if the Fed changes his tone at all,” said Gregory Taylor, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments. The US Federal Reserve is set to meet next week, and investors expect the central bank to start aggressively tightening its stimulus.
Limiting advances was the healthcare sector down 2.8%, with all major pot producers including OrganiGram Holdings Inc, Tilray Inc, Canopy Growth Corp, Aurora Cannabis Inc falling more than 4%.
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