The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index closed above the 14,000 mark for the first time on Friday, boosted by tame US inflation data and strength in commodity prices. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 150.69 points, or 1.1 percent, at 14,003.82, a record high close.
Earlier in the session, the index hit a record high of 14,009.30. The TSX is up 1.7 percent for the week, and is up 8.5 percent so far this year. "Today is economic data-driven," said Paul Taylor, chief investment officer at BMO Harris Investment Management Inc.
"The data that we saw today, this week and the US Federal Reserve meeting, all of it, generally confirms a soft landing with a Fed that eventually ends up easing interest rates."
A US report on Friday showed that higher energy costs pushed US producer prices up a slightly more-than-expected 0.7 percent in April. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, prices were unchanged. At home, Statistics Canada said the economy lost 5,200 jobs in April as manufacturing cutbacks outweighed gains in the natural resources industry.
All but one of the TSX index's 10 main groups were higher, with the heavyweight energy sector up 2.2 percent and the resource-laden materials group up 1.4 percent. The telecoms sector shed 0.2 percent. In the oil patch, EnCana Corp rose C$2.99, or 4.8 percent, to C$65.68, while Canadian Natural Resources Ltd climbed C$1.63, or 2.4 percent, to C$70.78.
Among miners, Teck Cominco Ltd was up C$1.46, or 3.2 percent, at C$47.26, while Lundin Mining rose 43 Canadian cents, or 3.1 percent, to C$14.18. "If the index can go above 14,000 and stay there with a little bit of certainty then that's a pretty positive sign," said Steve Ibel, institutional equities trader at Beacon Securities, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Investors might show some caution given the market's recent record-setting pace, driven largely by a merger and acquisition frenzy, he said. As well, investors tend to lock in profits at this time of year, Ibel added. Thomson Corp jumped C$1,74, or 3.9 percent, to C$46.74 after saying it has agreed to sell its education assets to private investors for about US $7.75 billion in cash.
Thomson is in talks to buy Reuters Group Plc in a deal that could be worth about US $17.6 billion. Shares of Goldcorp Inc climbed 37 Canadian cents, or 1.4 percent, to C$26.95 after the miner said its first-quarter profit rose 35 percent, helped by last year's acquisition of Glamis Gold.
Blue Pearl Mining shares rose 82 Canadian cents, or 4.7 percent, to C$18.22 after the molybdenum producer turned a profit in the first quarter and said it expects to benefit from rising prices of the metal.
Market volume was 403 million shares worth C$6.8 billion. Advancers outpaced decliners 959 to 693. The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index closed 9.79 points higher, or 1.24 percent, at 799.24. South of the border, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 111.09 points, or 0.84 percent, to 13,326.22, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 28.48 points, or 1.12 percent, at 2,562.22.
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