Roundup: Canadian stock market rises amid miners' rally

Canada's main stock market in Toronto moved modestly higher on Thursday for a fourth day in a row this week as shares of miners helped lift the trading sentiment.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 77.02 points, or 0.51 percent, to 15,228.52 points. Five of the eight major sectors were in the rising streak.

Metals and mining sector led TSX gainers Thursday by rising 4. 25 percent, as the most active gold contract for April delivery added 1.1 U.S. dollars, or 0.09 percent, to settle at 1,220.70 dollars per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Most of the gold shares rebounded from the slump in the last two consecutive trading days. Goldcorp Inc. added 0.83 percent to 29.12 Canadian dollars (about 23.31 U.S. dollars) and Barrick Gold Corp. inched up 0.33 percent to 15.15 Canadian dollars.

The basic metal, a subgroup of metals and mining sector, gained momentum as Teck Resources Ltd. jumped 6.36 percent to 18.73 Canadian dollars and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. surged 6.66 percent to 13.29 Canadian dollars.

Energy shares climbed 1.33 percent as Surge Energy Inc. advanced 3.10 percent to 3.33 Canadian dollars; Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. added 3.74 percent to 11.93 Canadian dollars.

Financials, the index's most heavily-weighted sector, increased 0.26 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.91 percent to 55.50 Canadian dollars; Royal Bank of Canada grew 0.90 percent to 77.42 Canadian dollars.

The losers in TSX on Thursday included Telecom and Utilities, which gave back 0.19 percent and 0.28 percent respectively.

In corporate news, Bombardier Inc. reported that its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) was negative 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2014. The Canadian transportation giant slumped 11.51 percent to 2.69 Canadian dollars in its share price.

Telecommunications giant Telus Corp. reported a 7.6 percent rise in its fourth-quarter profit in 2014. But its share was 0.02 percent lower to 43.53 Canadian dollars.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada announced Thursday that the New Housing Price Index posted a fourth consecutive 0.1 percent increase in December. Gains in Ontario and Alberta were moderated by a decline in Quebec.

Real estate shares rose slightly with S&P/TSX Capped Real Estate Index up 0.22 percent, when its heavyweight Brookfield Asset Management Inc. added 0.1 percent to 66.9 Canadian dollars.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar closed higher Thursday to 0.8006 U.S. dollar from 0.7911 U.S. dollar on Wednesday. Endite