Roundup: Canadian stock market bounces up as resources regain momentum
Xinhua, July 29, 2015 Adjust font size:
Canada's main stock market in Toronto on Tuesday edged up as resources shares rallied over the rising oil prices.
Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index added 75.99 points, or 0.54 percent, to 14,077.36 points, with gains seen across all the eight major sectors, after a downswing for seven days in a row.
Energy led the increase by 2.03 percent after the Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) for September delivery was higher 59 U.S.cents to close at 47.98 U.S. dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.
Most heavyweights of the energy sector were in the green when Cenovus Energy Inc. jumped 5.86 percent to 18.26 Canadian dollars (about 14.13 U.S. dollars), and Encana Corp. advanced 1.65 percent to 9.83 Canadian dollars per share.
Metals and mining was up 1.56 percent, the biggest rise in two weeks, after the basic metals giants Teck Resources Ltd. skyrocketed 7.14 percent to 9.45 Canadian dollars, and Lundin Mining Corp. also rallied 4.86 percent to 4.53 Canadian dollars.
But another leading company First Quantum Minerals Ltd. declined 4.33 percent to 11.06 Canadian dollars.
And the trading sentiment was also strengthened over the latest upbeat industrials data, when Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday that the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) increased 0. 5 percent in June, mainly because of higher prices for energy and petroleum products and motorized and recreational vehicles.
The industrial sector was up 0.83 percent when Canada's railway and aircraft maker Bombardier Inc. rose 2.25 percent to 1.82 Canadian dollars a share.
Other gainers included Financials, up 0.45 percent, and Info Tech, up 1.4 percent.
In companies' news, BlackBerry Ltd. jumped 6 percent to 10.07 Canadian dollars a share after a Morgan Stanley analyst upgraded the smartphone maker's stock rating.
Husky Energy Inc. announced Tuesday a quarterly dividend of 0. 30 Canadian dollar per share on its common shares for the three- month period ended June 30, although it reported that its net earnings in the second quarter were down to 120 million Canadian dollars from 628 million Canadian dollars a year ago. The oil company's shares rallied 4.21 percent to 23.52 Canadian dollars apiece.
And investors are looking for clues from more upcoming quarterly financial reports of Canadian oil and gas companies this week. And the equities market will focus on the impact of the weak commodities prices on the Canadian economy.
With oil prices now back below 50 U.S. dollars per barrel and precious metals plumbing multi-year lows, the BMO Capital Markets Commodity Price Index is primed for a substantial drop in July, according to a report issued by Bank of Montreal Tuesday.
On the currency front, the Canadian dollar on Tuesday moved higher to 0.7736 U.S. dollar, compared with 0.7666 U.S. dollar Monday. Endite