Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday mirroring global mood, as energy stocks gained on stronger oil prices and as concerns around the new coronavirus variant Omicron eased.
At 9:41 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 224.87 points, or 1.09%, at 20,884.86, a day after posting its biggest decline since October 2020.
The energy sector climbed 1.9% with oil prices rising more than 3% as major producers prepared to assess the threat posed by the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus to energy demand.
"Canadian markets rebounded with the markets around the world and at least we're off to a bit of a relief rally to start December. The price of oil is bouncing back as well, which also helped the Canadian market today," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
Global equities rose, reversing much of the previous session's losses, as investors used the dip in prices to bet the latest COVID-19 variant would not derail the economic recovery.
Toronto-listed technology stocks rose 0.9% tracking gains in US tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
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The financials sector, which account for about 30% of the Toronto market's value, gained 1.3%.
However, further gains in the sub-index were limited by National Bank of Canada, down 2.1%, as its earnings fell short of analysts' estimates, despite fourth-quarter profit rising and the lender raising dividend payouts.
The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.7% as gold futures rose 0.7% to $1,785.6 an ounce.
On the economic front, domestic manufacturing activity expanded at a slightly slower but still robust pace in November as production accelerated in spite of severe supply bottlenecks, data showed.
Highlights
The TSX posted no new 52-week high or low.
Across Canadian issues, there were six new 52-week highs and 11 new lows, with total volume of 47.22 million shares.
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