Roundup: Canadian stock market higher over surging commodity prices

Canada's main stock market in Toronto soared for a second straight day on Thursday after higher commodity prices benefited the mining and energy sectors.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/ TSX Composite Index gained 181.48 points, or 1.44 percent to 12,774.50 points. Seven of the eight sub-sectors were in positive territory on the day.

While the oil price retreated 0.58 cents to 31.70 U.S. dollars a barrel, the price of gold and silver rose to three-month highs. The gold price increased 13.60 to 1,156.27 U.S. dollars an ounce while the price of March Comex silver was up 0.126 to 14.68 dollars an ounce.

Andrew Pyle, senior adviser and portfolio manager at Scotia Wealth Management attributed the recent increase in commodity prices to the fall of the U.S. dollar.

"Commodities are priced in U.S. dollars, so any weakness in the value of the greenback makes commodities such as metals and oil more affordable to holders of other currencies," said Pyle.

"During the last few years, when the U.S. dollar has been very strong, it's been extremely difficult for commodity prices to do better, even if their fundamentals were OK," he added.

The Canadian dollar has gained nearly 6 percent after reaching a 12-year low three weeks prior.

The biggest winner on the day was the metal and mining sector, rocketing 13.20 percent.

Vancouver-based miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. saw stock prices balloon 34.11 percent to 4.05 Canadian dollars per share after many analysts released reports that gave the company a "buy" rating. Toronto-based Mining Corporation also saw double-digit gains, with a 12.54 percent ascend to 3.68 Canadian dollars a share.

The industrials sector also benefited from the commodity gains, as Canada's two largest railway companies was part of the 3.49-percent gain from the subsector.

Canadian National Railway Company, which owns tracks all across Canada and into the gulf of Mexico saw shares rise 3.10 percent to 75.72 Canadian dollars a share. Meanwhile, rival Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, which has a less extensive rail network saw shares shoot up 6.77 percent to 169.80 Canadian dollars a share.

BCE Inc., the company that owns Bell Canada saw prices increase 0.77 to 57.51 Canadian dollars a share after dividends were raised by 5 percent.

Bell currently services over 13 million phone lines in Canada and is the primary competitor to Rogers Communications, the other large player of telecommunications in Canada.

The Canadian dollar closed the session at 0.7274 U.S. dollar, compared to Wednesday's closing rate of 0.7261 U.S. dollar. Enditem