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Canadian stocks extend gains on resources recovery

Xinhua, July 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto continued to rise for the fifth day and rose to a fresh 11-month high on Thursday as crude oil prices recovered from previous losses coupled with a rally in financial stocks.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 20.72 point, or 0.14 percent, to close at 14,514.52 points. Seven of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors were higher.

Oil prices climbed on Thursday as a weaker U.S. dollar improved investor sentiment, which made the dollar-denominated oil more attractive for holders of other currencies.

U.S. WTI light sweet crude for August delivery added 0.93 U.S. dollars to settle at 45.68 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery gained 1.11 U.S. dollars to close at 47.37 U.S. dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

While the Bank of England unexpectedly left interest rates unchanged, investors saw hope after the central bank signaled there would be a stimulus program in August, once the impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union had been assessed.

In an upbeat sentiment, the TSX energy and financials sectors led a broad advance with a 0.42 percent and 0.36 percent rise respectively.

The most influential movers on the index included Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 0.69 percent to 79.82 Canadian dollars (61.88 U.S. dollars), and Birchcliff Energy Ltd., which surged 10.69 percent to 8.70 Canadian dollars.

Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index rose 0.7 percent in May, following a 0.3 percent increase in April.

May's increase was the largest since the 1.0 percent jump recorded in July 2007, mainly driven by higher new housing prices in the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa and in Vancouver.

The new housing price index excludes apartments and condominiums, which the government says are a particular cause for concern and which account for one-third of new housing.

The Canadian dollar traded higher at 0.7753 U.S. dollar, compared with Wednesday's closing rate of 0.7701 U.S. dollar. Endit