Toronto stocks jump as energy leads the way

Stronger energy issues, powered by soaring crude prices, helped push Toronto stocks on Friday to their highest close in more than two months.
The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index rose 36.51 points, or 0.43 percent, to 8,529.89. For the week, the index rose 1.9 percent.
Energy stocks rose 0.8 percent to lead all sectors, while the materials group, home to gold-mining issues, rose 0.5 percent. Eight of the TSX's 10 main subindexes finished higher.
World oil prices surged on concern the ongoing storm season in the Gulf of Mexico would further curtail production and imports. Output and refining in the US Gulf were sharply cut back as Hurricane Ivan roared through the Caribbean and into the key oil-producing region.
Petro-Canada shares rose C$1.76, or 2.8 percent, to C$63.41 even though the Canadian government decided to sell its remaining 19 percent stake in the company.
Shares of EnCana Corp finished up 31 Canadian cents, or 0.5 percent, at C$55.51, while Suncor Energy rose 45 Canadian cents, or 1 percent, to C$37.93.
Toronto's main equity index has now strung together three straight winning weeks, something it has not managed since June, and analysts anticipate the strength will continue.
"In the second half, it looks like a slower economy, and profits are going to slow, but they are still going to be all right," said John Kinsey, portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities Ltd.
"The big thing is expectations have come down so much, and that's very important for this market."
Market momentum was comfortably positive as 689 issues advance and 588 declined on a heavy volume that saw 279 million shares valued at C$4.7 billion change hands.
The blue-chip S&P/TSX index rose 2.83 points, or 0.6 percent to 476.33.
US stocks also finished slightly higher as Ford Motor Co raised its earnings forecasts, but the stronger oil prices limited gains as investors worried about their impact on US economic growth profits.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 39.97 points, or 0.39 percent, to 10,284.46, while the Nasdaq composite index closed 6.01 points, or 0.32 percent, higher at 1,910.09.