Canada's main stock index rose on Friday as gold stocks, burnished by a jump in gold prices, and certain energy and telecom names led broad gains. The top three most influential movers on the index were energy stocks. Enbridge Inc added 1.2 percent to C$51.67, while Transcanada Corp rose 1.2 percent to C$63.34.
US crude futures settled at $46.56 a barrel, up 1 percent, as lower US stockpiles and a slight slowdown in US crude production helped bolster prices, but trading was volatile and global supply remained strong. The overall energy group was up a marginal 0.2 percent, tempered by modest losses from other oil and gas companies, including Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus Energy.
"The fact is that there still appears to be too much supply - they appear to be cheating in terms of Opec members," said Irwin Michael, a portfolio manager at ABC Funds. "Oil remains very volatile as a commodity."
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 39.81 points, or 0.26 percent, to 15,174.81. The index gained more than 0.9 percent on the week. Michael expects the index to "saw-tooth its way to higher levels." Eight of the 10 main index groups rose. Information technology stocks were down 0.4 percent, while consumer staples was little changed. Telecoms rose 0.9 percent, with Roger Communications Inc climbing 1.3 percent to C$62.42.
Dominion Diamond Corp shares jumped as much as 4.7 percent to C$17.00, before being halted, after Reuters' reported it was in advanced talks with the Washington Companies on a sweetened cash takeover bid. The materials group, which encompasses miners and fertilizer producers, added 0.7 percent.
Disappointing US inflation and retail sales data pressured the US dollar, which helped lift gold prices to near two-week highs. Gold futures rose 0.9 percent to $1,227.5 an ounce. Goldcorp advanced 0.6 percent to C$16.47.
Barrick Gold was up 1.2 percent at C$20.22. Late on Thursday, a union representing workers at the Zaldivar copper mine in Chile, owned by Barrick and Antofagasta Plc, said talks would resume after workers voted to strike earlier this week. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 147 to 95, for a 1.55-to-1 ratio on the upside.
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