Canadian market closes at two-month high

Canada's main stock market climbed to its highest end of date rate since Feb. 23, as gains in Consumer Staples and Energy sectors offset losses in Materials group on Tuesday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite moved up 32.73 points, or 0.21 percent to finish the session at 15,745.19 points. Seven of the 10 sub-groups closed the day ahead.

Consumer Staples and Energy groups posted the largest gains during the session, rising 1.72 percent and 1.45 percent respectively.

The TSX Consumer Staples group, which is made up companies in the food industry, was lifted by supermarket chain Metro Inc posting strong second quarter financials.

During the quarter that ended on March 11, the Montreal-based saw sales rise 0.7 percent to 2.9 billion Canadian dollars (about 2.1 billion U.S. dollars) and earnings per share jump 9.8 percent.

As a result, shares soared 6.86 percent to 45.18 Canadian dollars (33.31 U.S. dollars).

Competitors of Metro also posted positive results during the session. Empire Company Limited, the parent company of supermarket chain Sobeys advanced 1.93 percent, while Loblaws Companies Limited closed 1.45 percent higher.

Energy stocks were fuelled by crude oil snapping a six-session losing slump during the day. A barrel of Brent crude for June delivery in London shot up 1.49 percent to close at 52.31 U.S. dollars. Entering the day, the benchmark crude was down a combined 7.53 percent since April 13.

As a result, Calgary-based energy firms thrived during the day. Canadian Natural Resources and Imperial Oil Limited closed 2.39 percent and 2.05 percent higher. Meanwhile, shares of Suncor Energy Inc, the largest producer of crude oil in Canada, closed at 42.22 Canadian dollars (31.12 U.S. dollars), 1.96 percent higher.

The remaining groups to finish the session in positive territory were: Consumer Discretionary (0.81 percent), Financial (0.58 percent), Information Technology (0.57 percent), Health Care (0.38 percent), and Telecommunications (0.16 percent).

The Financial group finished ahead for a second straight day, as Canada's two largest banks were among the top traded stocks by volume.

No. 2 ranked Toronto-Dominion Bank saw the most activity with more than 19 million shares exchanged, while top ranked Royal Bank of Canada had the third highest volume with more than 8.4 million. The stocks ultimately closed 0.18 percent and 1.00 percent higher, respectively.

Not all groups managed the close the session ahead, as Utilities fell 0.36 percent and Industrials ticked down by less than 0.01 percent.

However, it was the Materials group that did the most damage, slipping 2.53 percent on the day. The group which is made up of producers of gold, precious metals, and raw materials, closed lower as the spot price of gold fell 0.94 percent to 1,264 U.S. dollars an ounce. Subsequently, shares of gold miners Yamana Gold Inc, Kinross Gold Corporation, and IAMGOLD Corporation dipped 6.77 percent, 5.92 percent, and 5.89 percent, respectively.

Barrick Gold Corporation, the world's largest gold miner, had an even worst day, as stocks plummeted 10.97 percent to 22.89 Canadian dollars (16.87 U.S. dollars) after posting worse-than-expected first quarter financials. In addition, the Toronto-based firm also lowered their annual output estimate due to a chemical spill in one of their Argentinean mines.

The losses within the materials group were offset by strong results from two Vancouver-based lumber firms. Shares of West Fraser Timber and Canfor Corporation surged 8.77 percent and 7.87 percent, apiece, after the preliminary duties on Canadian softwood lumber were lower than expected. Earlier in the day, the United States government announced plans to impose a tariff that averaged 20 percent.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.29 cent to a 14-month low of 0.7372 U.S. dollar. Endit