Canadian stocks rise following OPEC deal

Canada's main stock market in Toronto moved up on Wednesday after Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut crude oil production for the first time since 2008.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 83.04 points, or 0.55 percent, to end the session at 15,082.85 points. Two of the 10 sub-sectors finished the day in the green.

Energy stocks shot up 7.91 percent following an agreement by OPEC, the cartel that produces one-third of the world's oil, in Vienna to decrease supply by more than 3 percent to 32.5 million barrels per day beginning January.

The news prompted crude oil prices to surge, as a barrel of Brent delivered in February rocketed 10.99 percent to 51.52 U.S. dollars in London.

Also contributing to the surge in energy stocks was the approval of Trans Mountain pipeline expansion by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.

The 1,150-kilometre project would see 890,000 barrels of oil pumped each day from the Alberta oil sands to Burnaby, British Columbia, a city near Vancouver, where it can be exported to Asia.

As a result, prices of Alberta-based energy firms prospered by more than 10 percent on the day. Baytex Energy Corp shares rocketed 16.84 percent to 5.76 Canadian dollars (4.29 U.S. dollars) and were also the most actively traded stock on the day with nearly 20 million shares exchanged.

Spartan Energy Corp. and Encana Corporation also thrived, soaring 13.10 percent and 10.91 percent, respectively.

The only other subgroup that advanced on Wednesday was Industrials, gaining 0.77 percent.

Eight subgroups were on the losing side, with Health Care (2.45 percent), Consumer Staples (1.49 percent), Telecommunications (1.30 percent), Consumer Discretionary (1.24 percent), Financials (0.70 percent), Utilities (0.62 percent), Information Technology (0.47 percent), and Materials (0.22 percent) groups all ending Wednesday in the negative.

Health Care's decline was largely due to stocks of Laval-based drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. sinking 7.85 percent to 21.24 Canadian dollars after failing to reach an agreement with a Japanese firm for the sale of their stomach-drug company.

The potential deal, which was first reported at the beginning of the month, was for a reported 10 billion U.S. dollars.

Financials group took a step back after Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the largest Bank in Canada, reported fourth quarter earnings that fell below expectations.

During the three months ending Oct. 31, the Montreal-based lender saw net income fall to 2.543 billion Canadian dollars, a 1.93 percent decrease compared to the same period last year. Earnings per share during the quarter was 1.65 Canadian dollars, compared to market expectations of 1.71 Canadian dollars.

The Materials group, which is made up of producers of gold, precious metals and fertilizers, faded as price of gold continued to slump. An ounce of bullion dropped 14.40 U.S. dollars to 1176.20. Since Nov. 2, gold prices have slipped 10.09 percent.

Subsequently, share price of Barrick Gold Corporation, the world's largest gold miner, retreated 2.89 percent to 20.15 Canadian dollars.

The Canadian dollar ticked up to 0.7445 U.S. dollars from Tuesday's 0.7442. Endit