Canadian stocks tick up over rebounding crude oil
Xinhua, April 7, 2016 Adjust font size:
Canada's main stock market in Toronto doggedly worked its way into positive territory to end Wednesday trading after four days of declines, as health-care and energy issues pointed the way as oil prices rose.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 42.57 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 13,347.23 points. Four of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were higher.
The energy group surged 3.05 percent, as oil prices jumped after industry data suggested the U.S. government was likely to report a smaller rise in crude inventories for last week compared to market expectations for a record high.
U.S. crude supplies of last week dropped 4.9 million barrels to 529.9 million barrels, 47.5 million barrels more than one year before, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its weekly report released Wednesday.
The Texas light sweet crude for May delivery moved up 1.86 U.S. dollars to settle at 37.75 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude for June delivery increased 1.97 dollars to close at 39.84 dollars a barrel.
TSX health care stocks hiked, spurred by an 18.53 percent increase, or 7.00 Canadian dollars (5.35 U.S. dollars), for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. The drug maker, whose stock closed at 44.77 Canadian dollars, has rebounded from a five-year low, increasing 29 percent over the last two days, after vote of confidence from Bill Ackman, an activist investor and recent addition to the company's board.
Heavyweight decliners included banks as Toronto-Dominion Bank went down 1.81 percent to 54.93 Canadian dollars (41.95 U.S. dollars), and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce tailed off 0.38 percent to 96.16 Canadian dollars.
Consumer staples led losing subgroups, as Metro Inc. fell 1.82, or 4.2 percent, to 42.08 Canadian dollars, and Loblaw, off 1.62, or 2.3 percent, to 69.37 Canadian dollars.
On the economic front, Western University in London, Ontario reported that its seasonally-adjusted Ivey Purchasing Managers Index came in at 50.1 for March, down from 53.4 in February and 47.9 for March 2015.
The survey asks purchasing managers whether their expenditures increased, decreased or stayed put during the previous month. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion.
The Canadian dollar traded higher at 0.7637 U.S. dollar, compared with Tuesday's closing rate of 0.7601 U.S. dollar. Enditem