Roundup: Canadian stock market edges higher amid upbeat economic data

Canada's main stock market in Toronto Thursday rose slightly following the release of a spate of positive economic data.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/ TSX Composite Index was higher 79 points, or 0.61 percent, to settle at 13,016.59 points, with all the major sectors in the green.

The index eked out slight gains for a second consecutive day after a sharp slump this week.

Shrugging of the falling oil prices, energy rose 1.17 percent. According to Statistics Canada, exports of Canadian energy and energy products increased 1.4 percent in 2014 to 11,850 petajoules, most of which were destined for the United States.

The oil and gas giant Canadian Natural Resources Limited jumped 3.52 percent to 29.96 Canadian dollars (about 21.98 U.S. dollars) while Canadian Oil Sands Limited increased 1.94 percent to 8.41 Canadian dollars per share.

Meanwhile, the federal agency also said that Canadian industries increased their production capacity by 0.6 percentage points in the third quarter to 82.0 percent, following two consecutive quarterly declines, and the increase was largely driven by the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction and manufacturing industries.

Metals and mining rallied 1.68 percent as the base metals producers First Quantum Minerals Limited gained 3.78 percent to 4.94 Canadian dollars and Teck Resources Limited advanced 3 percent to 5.15 Canadian dollars.

The biggest gainer by percentage was the info-tech sector, up 2.85 percent when Canada's smart phone maker BlackBerry soared 7.71 percent to 10.71 Canadian dollars apiece.

However, on the economic outlook, in the wake of a very soft trade performance in October, "we expect a downbeat report on manufacturing conditions next Tuesday", according to Derek Holt, an economist from Scotiabank on Wednesday.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar Thursday lowered to 0.7336 U.S. dollar at 4 pm local time, compared with 0.7372 U.S. dollar on Wednesday, when the U.S. dollar strengthened against major currencies as investors were speculating about an upcoming hike in the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate. Enditem