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Canadian market up on Trump reviving Keystone XL Pipeline

Xinhua, January 25, 2017 Adjust font size:

Canada's main stock market in Toronto jumped up on Tuesday after United States President Donald Trump announced plans to move forward with the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite rose 130.56 points, or 0.84 percent, to finish the day at 15,610.69 points. All of the ten sub-sectors finished the session higher.

After taking a 2.88 percent hit on Monday, the Energy group rebounded as Trump ordered executive action on Tuesday to move forward with the Keystone XL and Dakota oil pipelines after Barack Obama's team vetoed the bill in 2015 due to environmental concerns.

Trump's latest action will allow TransCanada Corporation, the company that proposes building the 1,897 kilometer pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska, to re-apply for the construction of the project.

As a result, shares of the firm rose 2.72 percent to an all-time high of 64.24 Canadian dollars (48.69 U.S. dollars).

TransCanada's shares rising was part of the TSX Energy group leaping 2.27 percent on the day. Also finishing strong in the group were Calgary-based Baytex Energy Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc., gaining 6.64 percent and 2.36 percent, respectively.

Information Technology and Materials groups also made strong gains on Tuesday, rising 1.29 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively.

Information Technology rose as Waterloo-based Open Text Corporation and Blackberry Limited rose 2.93 percent and 0.86 percent, respectively.

The rise in copper price contributed to the ascent in the TSX Materials group, as the metal rose 2.56 percent to 2.677 U.S. dollars a pound. As a result, firms that predominately mine for copper saw a surge in their stock price. Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. spiked 7.17 percent to 10.01 Canadian dollars (7.60 U.S. dollars), while Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. advanced 3.76 percent to 4.14 Canadian dollars (3.14 U.S. dollars).

Meanwhile, the price of gold fell 0.76 percent to 1,208.50 U.S. dollars an ounce, and the same weight of silver fell 0.81 percent to 17.06 U.S. dollars.

The remaining groups to finish the day higher were: Consumer Discretionary (0.73 percent), Utilities (0.60 percent), Industrials (0.36 percent), Telecommunications (0.24 percent), Financials (0.20 percent), Consumer Staples (0.20 percent), and Health Care (0.01 percent).

Industrials was led by Class B shares of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. climbing 3.20 percent 2.58 Canadian dollars (1.96 U.S. dollars). Over the last two months, shares have moved up 34.38 percent.

The TSX Financial group, which accounts for the largest weight in the index grew as insurance firm Manulife Financial Corporation jumped 1.13 percent to 25.01 Canadian dollars (19.00 U.S. dollars). The stock was one of the most traded on the day, with nearly 3.9 million shares exchanged on the day.

The Canadian dollar jumped 0.57 cents to finish the day at 0.7595 U.S. dollars. Endit