What happened
Three top Canadian marijuana stocks enjoyed big moves on Monday. Shares of Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB) jumped 7.4% as of 2:38 p.m. EST after rising as much as 12.7% earlier in the day. Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) moved 5.5% higher after racking up a 9.7% gain earlier. The biggest winner, though, was Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) , which soared as much as 20.6% before settling down to a 12.7% increase on Monday.
Neither Cronos Group nor Tilray announced any news. Aurora's only development related to its partner, Radient Technologies , receiving a standard processing license from Health Canada. So why did these three stocks rise?
The most likely factor behind the solid gains is increasing confidence in the prospects for the global cannabis industry. The Canadian recreational marijuana market is just getting cranked up. Global medical marijuana markets continue to expand. The U.S. legalization of hemp opens the door for a major new market for the big Canadian producers. And there are encouraging signs about the potential for changes to U.S. federal marijuana laws in the not-too-distant future