Canadian Market Pares Gains After Modest Upmove

(RTTNews) - After opening marginally up and moving further higher, the Canadian market pared some gains on Wednesday, with investors seeming a bit hesitant to hold positions at higher levels.

Comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggesting he believes stocks may be overvalued, appear to be contributing to the cautious mood in the market.

Powell described equity prices as "fairly highly valued" following the recent run to record highs, contributing to yesterday's weakness on Wall Street.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which advanced to 30,023.10 earlier, was up 46.44 points or 0.16% at 29,862.07 a little while ago.

Energy and utilities stocks are finding some support.

The Energy Capped Index has climbed more than 1.8%. Vermilion Energy, up 4.8%, tops the list of gainers in the sector. Cenovus Energy is gaining nearly 4%, while Canadian Natural Resources, Baytex Energy and Kelt Exploration are up 2.8 to 3%.

Utilities stock Brookfield Renewable Partners is up nearly 3%. Boralex, Atco, Fortis, AltaGas and Canadian Utilities are up 1 to 1.5%. Brookfield Infra Partners, Superior Plus Corp and Emera Corp are up with moderate gains.

Dorel Industries is soaring nearly 12%. Lundin Mining, Ero Copper, Teck Resources, Canopy Growth Corp., Hudbay Minerals, Nutrien, Gran Tierra Energy, Open Text Corporation, Cronos Group and First Quantum Minerals are up 4 to 10%.