TSX adds 1 percent as crude rise helps energy stocks
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index added almost 1 percent on Monday, bolstered by robust gains across most of the index's key sectors, including financial and energy stocks, which were helped by higher crude oil prices. Eight of the index's 10 main groups gained, with seven of them up at least 1 percent. Financial stocks, which make up more than a third of the TSX's weight, rose 1.7 percent. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> ended up 132.54 points, or 0.97 percent, at 13,779.44. The rebound follows Friday's 1 percent loss following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to stand pat on raising U.S. interest rates amid concerns about global economic growth. Manash Goswami, a portfolio manager at First Asset Investment Management Inc, said the Fed's dovish tone may have encouraged investors to buy into higher-yielding stocks such as Manulife Financial Corp and Enbridge Inc . Enbridge was the index's most influential gainer, up 3.5 percent at C$52.89, while Manulife added 3.2 percent to C$21.08. Energy stocks gained 1.7 percent as crude rose following U.S. drilling data showing slower activity. [O/R] "A lot of what's going to happen in Canada is going to be driven by commodities, sentiment and reality," Goswami said. "I'm not bullish," he said of the energy sector. "You have to be very selective." Canadian banks, which have a significant stake in the country's oil and gas industry, have often seen their fortunes move in tandem with crude prices in recent months. Toronto-Dominion Bank was among the gainers carrying the most weight, rising 1.8 percent to C$52.60. Canadian National Railway climbed 2.7 percent to C$76.71. The overall industrials group, which is edging closer to the materials group in sector weight, climbed 1.6 percent. Offsetting the gains was a 1.9 percent loss in the materials sector, home to Canada's non-energy resource companies. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 175 to 61, for a 2.9-to-1 ratio on the upside. "It's just a bit of a recovery. The market generally still wants to go down for a while," said Douglas Davis, chief executive officer at Davis-Rea. "I think it will be very volatile until mid-October. It's just always seasonally weak through here." (Additional reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by James Dalgleish and Jonathan Oatis)
