By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- At noon in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was at 20,934.97 points, up 0.92% in the day’s trading.
Canada’s benchmark index was led higher by the heavyweight energy sector (+1.56%). The subindex was buoyed by strong performance in Canadian producers as earnings season commences.
Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) (+8.41%), set to report q1 2022 earnings in little over a week, led gains after hedge fund Elliott Management called for a review of the company's executive leadership, noting that shareholders have seen returns underperform nearly all large-cap North American oil and gas companies.
The index was also supported by bullishness in crude following news that a total EU embargo on Russian oil is likely to go ahead, now that Russian-energy reliant Germany has dropped its opposition to the total ban.
Heavyweight financials, rebounding from a recent sell-off, also helped lift the TSX higher today. Financials are now recovering in a more traditional correlation to bond yields and rate hike expectations.
As noted by strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), “Banks are historically strongly correlated to bond yields direction, but due to recent growth concerns have opened up a gap with yields.”
Expectations for aggressive rate hikes in Canada were strengthened yesterday, following Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem’s comments yesterday that the bank will likely consider another 50 basis point hike on June 1.
All TSX sectors except Health Care (-3.76%), Materials (-0.07%), and Clean Tech (-0.72%) were in the red as of midday today.
Suncor Energy was by far the best performing stock on the TSX today, followed by Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS) (+3.82%), First Quantum Minerals Ltd (TSX:FM)(+3.49%), TFI International Inc (TSX:TFII) (+3.27%), and Secure Energy Services Inc . (TSX:SES) (+3.51%).
Bausch Health (TSX:BHC) (-8.72%), Ballard Power Systems Inc (TSX:BLDP)(-4.69%), Energy Fuels Inc (TSX:EFR) (-3.97%), WELL Health Technologies Corp (TSX:WELL) (-5.21%), and Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB) (-3.74%) were the biggest losers on the TSX as of midday today.