Canadian stocks inch up as crude oil ascends

Canada's main stock market in Toronto rose Friday amid boosted crude oil and commodity prices and eased global worries about Britain's EU referendum next week.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index added 19.36 point, or 0.14 percent, to close at 13,901.77 points. Half of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were higher.

Oil prices jumped about 4 percent on Friday, as a weaker dollar and less anxiety about Britain's possible exit from the European Union encouraged investors to buy riskier assets.

The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery added 1.77 U.S. dollars to settle at 47.98 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery increased 1.98 U.S. dollars to close at 49.17 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

TSX energy group was up 1.40 percent as the most influential movers on the index included oil producers Canadian Natural Resources, which gained 1.59 percent to 37.79 Canadian dollars (29.34 U.S.dollars), and Suncor Energy, up 0.88 percent to 34.34 Canadian dollars.

Suncor has reportedly launched an auction of its Petro-Canada lubricants division.

The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added strength with a 1.77 percent advance.

Saskatchewan is considering whether to end a review of its potash royalty system, the provincial economy minister said, as producers of the crop nutrient struggle with low prices.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 1.72 percent to 21.82 Canadian dollars.

Meanwhile, Canada's energy regulator on Thursday officially launched its 21-month review of TransCanada Corp's Energy East pipeline, which would carry crude from Alberta's oil sands to refineries and export terminals in eastern Canada.

Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that inflation increased 1.5 percent on a year-over-year basis in May, after increasing 1.7 percent in April. The agency adds that, on a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index increased 0.2 percent in May, matching the gain in April.

The Canadian dollar traded higher at 0.7765 U.S. dollar, compared with Thursday's closing rate of 0.7715 U.S. dollar. Endit