- Rebounding oil prices help Canadian equities extend their longest winning streak since August
- Canada’s equity market is one of two developed markets, along with New Zealand, that are back to positive this year
- Supporting the rally in Canadian stocks are raw-materials and energy producers
Since the January 20 lows, the iShares MSCI Canada ETF (NYSEArca: EWC) gained 18.8%, First Trust Canada AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FCAN) rose 21.5%, SPDR MSCI Canada Quality Mix ETF (NYSEArca: QCAN) returned 21.5% and IndexIQ Canada Small Cap ETF (NYSEArca: CNDA) advanced 32.1%. The energy sector makes up 20.1% of EWC, 12.1% FCAN, 16.4% QCAN and 21.6% CNDA.
Meanwhile, the United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO), which tracks West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, increased 12.9% and the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO), which tracks Brent crude oil futures, jumped 26.1% over the same period.
Additionally, the sector-specific Guggenheim Canadian Energy Income Fund (NYSEArca: ENY) surged 27.5% since the January lows.
The benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index is rallying on its longest streak since August to six days as commodity producer stocks rebound amid rising resource prices, reports Eric Lam for Bloomberg.
Canada’s equity market is one of two developed markets, along with New Zealand, that are back to positive this year. Year-to-date, EWC is up 3.0%, QCAN is 4.6% higher, CNDA gained 9.0% and ENY rose 5.5%.
Supporting the rally in Canadian stocks, raw-materials and energy producers rallied the most in the S&P/TSX as six of 10 industries gained.
Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) jumped 9.0% Thursday to its highest level this year and was trading back above its 200-day simple moving average. The energy provider has been dragged down by a 89% decline in fourth-quarter profit and lowered its 2016 capital budget about 22%.
Furthermore, the rebounding precious metals prices has helped prop up the miners space, with Comex gold futures now trading at $1,250 per ounce and Comex silver futures at $15.2 per ounce.
The materials sector makes up 10.0% of EWC’s underlying portfolio, 10.0% QCAN, 21.3% FCAN and a hefty 31.8% of CNDA.
iShares MSCI Canada ETF
Max Chen contributed to this article.