TSX rebounds as industrials, miners gain
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rebounded on Friday, with gains among miners, industrials and banks helping recoup almost all the previous session's losses. The most influential riser was Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc , which jumped 3.7 percent to C$271.19, after a slew of analysts raised price targets. The drugmaker had raised its earnings and sales forecasts on Wednesday. Month-end positioning and disappointing earnings reports had sent the index down 0.8 percent on Thursday, but the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> reversed that move on Friday, rising 115.25 points, or 0.76 percent, to 15,339.77. The index slipped 0.4 percent for week, although it climbed more than 2 percent during the month of April, bolstered in part by a rally in crude prices. Stan Wong, a portfolio manager at Scotia McLeod, said crude should rise further and that oil and gas companies such as Canadian Natural Resources , Crescent Point Energy Co and Pembina Pipeline Corp looked attractive. "I think oil prices will probably end the year higher than where they started it," he said. "Stocks always look six months forward, so that's why we've been buying energy names." Energy stocks were flat on the day, however, hurt in part by crude prices that fell after Iraq said its crude exports hit a record in April. Industrial stocks gained 1.7 percent, led by railway rivals Canadian National Railway Co and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd . Other top influencers include Toronto-Dominion Bank , which rose 0.5 percent to C$55.96, and First Quantum Minerals Ltd , which jumped 5.6 percent to C$19.52. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd rose 5.7 percent to C$39.59 after the gold miner's first quarter results beat expectations. The financials group climbed 0.6 percent while the material group that includes miners climbed 1.8 percent. Scotia McLeod's Wong said he was concerned about the index's valuation, which is higher than the U.S. S&P 500's, especially in light of some dismal earnings so far. "It's early in the earnings season for the TSX, but revenue and earnings surprise rates are kind of underwhelming," he said. (Editing by Bernadette Baum and David Gregorio)
