Banks outmuscle oils to push Toronto stocks higher

A rebound in heavily weighted financial shares helped Toronto stocks finish higher on Friday and eke out a slight gain on the week, despite a third-straight drop by the influential energy group.
The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index rose 43.77 points, or 0.39 percent, to 11,136.58. For the week, the key index inched ahead just 4.6 points.
A 1.67 percent climb by the financial sector carried the benchmark index for the majority of the session as lower Canadian government bond yields made dividend-paying bank stocks more attractive.
"Dividend stocks seem to be very much in favour these days, and the bank stocks are among the best dividend payers so that helped them out," said Elvis Picardo, chief market strategist at Global Securities Corp.
Royal Bank of Canada rose C$1.70, or nearly 2 percent, to C$88.60, while Toronto-Dominion Bank gained C$1.38, or 2.35 percent, to C$60.03. The financial index, which accounts for about a third of the benchmark index, marked its highest close in almost three weeks.
The market's overall rise was tempered by a 1.67 percent decline in energy stocks and a 1.62 percent drop in health-care issues.
Oil prices fell nearly $2 to $58.06 a barrel due largely to swelling US crude stockpiles and forecasts that icy weather in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, would ease.
Shares of EnCana Corp dropped C$2.35, or 4 percent, to C$54.40, while Canadian Natural Resources fell C$1.80, or nearly 3 percent to C$59.35.
"We saw a pretty sharp drop in oil prices and the energy group has obviously reacted to that. But, overall, we had some strength in the financials and that helped to offset some of the weakness," said Picardo.
Market momentum was mildly positive as 756 issues advanced and 734 declined on a heavy volume of 409 million shares valued at C$7.8 billion.
The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index rose 2.79 points, or 0.45 percent, to 628.12.
US markets finished a touch lower as lower crude prices hampered energy shares while a lower profit by Oracle Corp weighed on technology issues.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 6.08 points, or 0.06 percent, at 10,875.59, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.15 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,252.48.