(RTTNews) - The Canadian market remains firmly up in positive territory Friday afternoon thanks largely to strong gains in materials stocks. Several stocks from real estate, consumer discretionary and financials sectors too are up with impressive gains.
The undertone in the market is quite firm amid expectations Iran and the U.S. could sign a peace deal as early as this Sunday.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 280.02 points or 0.81% at 34,951.48 a little while ago.
The Materials Capped Index is up 3.75%. Montage Gold Corp., the top gainer in the Index, is up more than 11%. Taseko Mines is up nearly 10%, while Aya Gold & Silver, Skeena Resources, Silvercorp Metals, Endeavour Silver Corp, Avino Silver & Gold Mines, Ero Copper, Americas Gold & Silver Corporation and Ngex Minerals are gaining 7.5%-9%.
Real estate stocks Primaris REIT, Riocan Real Estate, Crombi Real Estate, CDN Apartment, FirstService Corporation, Smartcentres REIT and CT Real Estate are up 1.3%-2%.
Consumer discretionary stocks BRP, Magna International and Aritzia are up 2.5%, 2% and 1.8%, respectively. Linamar Corp, Restaurant Brands International and Pet Valu Holdings are also notably higher.
In the financials sector, Goeasy and Sprott are up 4.5% and 3.1%, respectively. Onex Corporation, Brookfield Asset Management, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Nova Scotia and Manulife Financial are up 1.2%-3%.
In economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's new motor vehicle sales totaled 183,921 in April, a 6.0% decline from April.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
