Off the wire
• Automotive production in Brazil dropped 11.2 pct in 2016  • Greek citizens' initiative calls for non-extradition of eight Turkish military officers to Ankara  • Cuba's International Book Fair 2017 to pay tribute to Fidel Castro  • President Temer calls Brazilian prison riot "dreadful accident"  • Chicago agricultural commodities close mixed  • Israel's Netanyahu interrogated over allegedly receiving "benefits": police  • Armed guards to man Swedish nuclear power plants  • HC Beijing Kunlun Red Star won KHL match in Bratislava  • Gold up as traders react to FOMC minutes release  • Brazilian striker Marinho eyes China move  
You are here: 　 Home

Canadian market extends 28-month high

Xinhua, January 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto continued to build on its highest finish position since Sept. 2014 on Thursday, as soaring gold prices helped the index close ahead for a third straight session.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite climbed 69.83 points, or 0.45 percent, to close the day at 15,586.58 points. Half of the ten sub-sectors finished the session higher.

After starting the year with consecutive triple-digit gains, Thursday's uplift pushed the TSX near its all-time peak of 15,685.13, reached on Sept. 3, 2014.

Materials group had the biggest influence on the day, surging 3.84 percent as gold prices continued its recent rally. The spot price of bullion ascended 1.47 percent to 1,180.20 U.S. dollars an ounce. The same weight of silver also posted a healthy gain of 0.91 percent to close at 16.55 U.S. dollars.

The result of the spike in prices saw five of the six most traded stocks on the day belong to gold miners. Topping the list with 16.2 million shares exchanged was Vancouver-based B2Gold Corp., which closed at 3.68 Canadian dollars (2.78 U.S. dollars) a share, a 9.52 percent boost. Meanwhile, Barrick Gold Corporation, the world's largest producer of gold, posted a 5.64 percent gain to close at 23.04 Canadian dollars (17.40 U.S. dollars) a share.

Toronto-based gold miners IAMGOLD Corporation, Yamana Gold Inc., Kinross Gold Corporation rounded out the top-six, with respective gains of 11.47 percent, 5.96 percent, and 4.57 percent.

The remaining nine groups did not change by more than one percent. Groups that moved forward on Thursday were: Telecommunications (0.84 percent), Utilities (0.16 percent), Consumer Staples (0.07 percent), and Financials (0.05 percent).

Groups on the losing end on Thursday were Information Technology (0.79 percent), Energy (0.57 percent), Consumer Discretionary (0.40 percent), Industrials (0.28 percent), and Health Care (0.16 percent).

Energy fell despite crude oil and natural gas prices rising. Price of Brent delivered in March moved up 51 cents to 56.78 U.S. dollars a barrel, while February natural gas on New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.40 percent to 3.305 U.S. dollars per million British thermal units.

Shares of Alberta energy firms Encana Corporation and Baytex Energy Corp. were among the top-ten traded stocks by volume. Encana faded 1.63 percent to 16.94 Canadian dollars (12.79 U.S. dollars) a share, while Baytex shares closed at 6.60 Canadian dollars (4.98 U.S .dollars), a 1.64 percent decline.

On a positive note, Calgary-based Penn West Petroleum Ltd. rose 3.69 percent to 2.53 Canadian dollars (1.91 U.S. dollars) after announcing a 2017 budget of 180-million-dollar (all figures Canadian dollars) for capital spending, compared to the 95 million dollars allocated last year. Of the total budgeted amount, 160 million dollars will be allocated to exploration and development, while the remainder will be used for decommissioning.

Industrials slipped as Class B shares of Montreal-based Bombardier fell 2.90 percent to 2.34 Canadian dollars (1.77 U.S. dollars) and was the second most actively traded stock with nearly 14.9 million shares traded.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.0037 to close the day at 0.7553 U.S. dollars. Endite