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Roundup: Canadian stock inches higher over oil, gold rise

Xinhua, April 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market Wednesday moved slightly higher as a rise in oil and gold prices boosted the resources sectors, offsetting losses from industrial shares.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 40.11 points, or 0.27 percent, to 14,942.55 points.

The resources sectors, the heavily-weighted components in the Canadian equity market, bounced up as the energy sector and the metals and mining sector rose 1.08 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Boosted by a rally in oil prices with light, sweet crude for May delivery up 2.49 U.S. dollars to settle at 50.09 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, most of the Canadian energy giants traded higher. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. jumped 3.65 percent to 10.21 Canadian dollars (about 8.09 U.S. dollars), and Suncor Energy Inc. also added 0.65 percent to 37.25 Canadian dollars.

The sharp rise of gold price was a major contributor for TSX rise as well when June bullion contract moved ahead 25 U.S. dollars to 1,208.2 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The world's biggest gold producer Barrick Gold Corp. jumped 9.6 percent to 15.18 Canadian dollars and Eldorado Gold Corp. moved higher 7.57 percent to 6.25 Canadian dollars per share.

However, industrials lost 0.45 percent when a monthly survey showed a further downturn in business conditions across the Canadian manufacturing sector in March, according to the RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index released by Royal Bank of Canada on Wednesday. It showed that the indicator edged up marginally to a seasonally adjusted 48.9 last month from February's record low of 48.7.

Air Canada, the biggest airliner in Canada, retreated 3.71 percent to 11.93 Canadian dollars while Canadian National Railway Company declined 1.16 percent to 83.84 Canadian dollars apiece.

And another loser -- financials -- fell 0.17 percent, as Bank of Nova Scotia slipped 0.13 percent to 63.46 Canadian dollars and Sun Life Financial Inc. traded down 0.64 percent to 38.78 Canadian dollars.

On the currency front, a lower Canadian dollar was one of the major reasons for pushing up corporate profit margins in Canada that hit a 27-year high in the fourth quarter last year, according to a report from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce on Tuesday.

Stimulated by the higher oil prices, the Canadian dollar on Wednesday moved to 0.7920 U.S. dollar, higher than 0.7895 U.S. dollar on Tuesday. Endite