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Canadian stocks reach 16-month high despite poor economic data

Xinhua, October 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market on Friday overcame unfavorable inflation and manufacturing data to end the week at its highest level since June 2015.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 91.12 points, or 0.61 percent, to close the week at 14,939.04 points. Nine of the index's ten sub-sectors were in the positive on the day.

Early Friday morning, Statistics Canada released September Consumer Price Index (CPI) as well as August retail sales figures, both of which fell below market expectations. The CPI rose 0.2 percent to 1.3 percent, slightly lower than the 1.5-percent consensus and retail sales fell 0.1 percent to 44 billion Canadian dollars (33 billion U.S. dollars), in contrast with an expected increase of 0.3 percent.

Entering the week, the TSX was in the midst of a six-week long slump where the index lost 12.96 points since Sept. 1. The index rebounded in a big way in the week as each session of the week ended with a gain. As the end-of-day bell rang on Friday afternoon, the index was up 354.05 points on the week, or 2.43 percent.

The TSX Energy Group made the biggest move during Friday's session, rising 0.94 percent. Suncor Energy Inc. shares advanced for a fifth consecutive session, closing at 39.19 Canadian dollars (29.4 U.S. dollars), a 1.08-percent gain from Thursday.

Brent crude oil ended the week with 51.8 U.S. dollars a barrel for December delivery in London, up 0.82 percent.

Materials and Financials sub-sectors were also strong, finishing the day up 0.89 percent and 0.53 percent respectively.

Industrials sector was up 0.66 percent although Bombardier Inc. shares fell 1.12 percent to 1.76 Canadian dollars (1.32 U.S. dollars). The slide came after the Montreal-based manufacturer of planes and trains announced plans to cut 7,500 jobs globally over the next two years, including 2,000 within Canada.

Consumer Staples was the lone group in the negative on the day, falling 0.15 percent, as shares of food retailers Loblaw Companies Limited and Metro Inc. dropped 1.61 percent to 66.03 Canadian dollars (49.54 U.S. dollars) and 0.38 percent to 41.87 Canadian dollars (31.41 U.S. dollars) respectively.

The Canadian dollar ended the week down 0.0057 to 0.7505 U.S. dollars. Endit