Roundup: Canadian stock market gains as resources shares edge up

Canada's main stock market moved slightly higher on Tuesday as the resources shares edged up ahead of U.S. central bank's announcement on interest rates.

The benchmark Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 35.77 points, or 0.24 percent, to 14,898.53 points.

Investors were closely watching the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) two-day meeting, which is expected to give market more clues on the timing of a rate hike.

Although market sentiment was weighed by the falling oil prices, the index stayed in the positive territory on the closing bell with both energy and miners stocks leading the increase.

Energy grew 0.91 percent as Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. rallied 1. 69 percent to 9.02 Canadian dollars (about 7.06 U.S. dollars) and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. advanced 1.35 percent to 37.62 Canadian dollars per share, although Canada's biggest oil and gas company Suncor Energy Inc. lost 0.31 percent to 35.11 Canadian dollars.

Metals and Mining added 0.44 percent as the fertilizer maker Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. went higher 0.42 percent to 42.73 Canadian dollars, and the basic metals giant First Quantum Minerals Ltd. rose 0.65 percent to 13.86 Canadian dollars.

However, the sub-sector gold group dropped with the world's important benchmark for gold trading S&P/TSX Global Gold Index down 1.37 percent, after the gold producer Barrick lost 2.23 percent to 13.17 Canadian dollars.

Financials and Health Care was down 0.09 percent and 0.55 percent, respectively.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales in this country fell 1.7 percent in January due mostly to a price-induced decline of 11.9 percent in sales of petroleum and coal products.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar moved higher to 0. 7827 U.S. dollars on Tuesday, compared with 0.7825 U.S. dollars on Monday. Endite