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Canadian stocks net largest gain in 10 weeks

Xinhua, September 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market on Thursday netted its biggest gain since July following strong performances from the financial and telecommunication sectors.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 137.21 points, or 0.96 percent, to close at 14,503.67 points. All 10 of the TSX index's sub-sectors were positive during the trading day.

The 137.21-point increase was the highest since July 4, when the index surged 194.33 points.

On Thursday, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released its latest monthly report on home sales in Canada, which indicated a fourth consecutive month of decline. From July to August, the number of new home lists dropped 2.7 percent, causing a 3.1-percent drop in sales.

The Greater Vancouver area has taken the hardest hit since the introduction of a 15-percent transfer tax on foreign buyers in August.

"The sudden introduction of the new property transfer tax on homes purchased by foreign buyers in Metro Vancouver has created a cloud of uncertainty among home buyers and sellers," said CREA President Cliff Iverson.

The TSX Financials sector was the biggest winner on Thursday, advancing 1.33 percent. Canadian insurance and financial giant Manulife Financial saw a 2.31-percent gain to 18.17 Canadian dollars (13.81 U.S. dollars) a share.

Canada's second largest financial institution, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank), saw its shares grow 0.98 percent to 57.55 Canadian dollars (43.75 U.S. dollars) after selling its indirect home improvement financing assets with a book value of 339 million Canadian dollars (257.71 million U.S. dollars) to two private companies.

The telecommunication sector grew 1.08 percent on the day led by industry leaders BCE Inc. and Rogers Communication. BCE Inc., owner of Bell Canada, saw shares increase 0.58 percent to 60.48 Canadian dollars (45.98 U.S. dollars), while Class B non-voting shares of Rogers Communication added 2.40 percent to close at 55.99 Canadian dollars (42.56 U.S. dollars).

On the same day, the Canadian dollar rose 0.22 cents to 0.7602 U.S. dollar, compared with Wednesday's closing rate of 0.7580 U.S. dollar. Endi