Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday, aided by gains in technology and healthcare shares, while cybersecurity company Blackberry rose on the back of upbeat corporate earnings.
At 9:53 a.m. ET (13:53 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 224.83 points, or 1.2%, at 18,941.95, a day after it slipped to its lowest level in 15 months.
Toronto-listed technology stocks added 2.7% and healthcare shares jumped 5.2%, with pot producers Bausch Health Companies and Aurora Cannabis gaining the most on the index.
Stronger crude prices fueled a 2% rise in the energy sector as global supply remained tight.
“Canada had a terrible day yesterday and but today it does look like things are trying to bounce back into the weekend. We do have a 2% gain for the oil price, so that could help energy stocks a little bit,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
The financials sector gained 1%, while the industrials sector rose 1.6%.
The benchmark index was set to end the week flat as gains in tech and healthcare stocks countered weakness in commodities, where prices came under pressure from concerns that aggressive rate hikes might trigger a global recession.
“There is a huge reversal going on right now, sectors such as tech that were really knocked down are bouncing back a little bit and the resource stocks which were the one area that had been good in the market this year are just getting clobbered,” Cieszynski said.
Energy and mining stocks have declined 6% and 6.6% so far this week.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.2% as gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,815.8 an ounce.
BlackBerry Ltd rose 3.7% after trumping estimates for first-quarter revenue on Thursday, powered by growth in its auto products and cybersecurity services segments.
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