The Toronto Stock Exchange is down near 100 points at midday with the financials sector (-1.4%), the biggest decliner.
Limiting losses are strong gains in info tech (+5.2%) and energy (+3%).
Oil prices are higher as expectations dim for a peace deal in the Iran war now entering its fourth month. Media reports said today that Iran has confirmed there will be no peace talks with the U.S. until Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza cease, citing the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.
Despite the rally on Friday, and the additional gains today the S&P/TSX Info-tech sub-sector is still down YTD, RBC Capital Markets noted Monday.
The underperformance of the S&P/TSX Info-tech sub-sector reflects its high exposure to software and continued low investor sentiment on software, the bank said. The median stock in RBC's coverage is down 20% YTD, it noted.
Investor sentiment "remains soft" across its coverage, even though calendar Q1 results were largely in line or above consensus estimates; 69% of its covered stocks reported first-quarter revenue above consensus. With 68% of the stocks in its coverage in the lowest quintile of their historical valuation range, RBC sees attractive risk-reward across the coverage.
The best investment ideas in RBC's coverage are Shopify (SHOP.TO), Constellation (CSU.TO), Kinaxis (KXS.TO) and Celestica (CLS.TO).