Toronto's main stock index rose for a fifth-straight session on Friday as higher bullion and oil prices boosted gold-mining and oil and gas shares. Among gold producers, Goldcorp was up 1.37 percent at C$47.50, Iamgold gained 1.95 percent to C$20.40, and Barrick Gold rose 0.45 percent to 44.38. Gold prices jumped 1.5 percent on safe-haven buying after Greece's credit rating was cut by Fitch.
"Gold prices have rebounded quite strongly today, but the fact is that gold stocks have been lagging the rise in gold prices for months now," said Elvis Picardo, an analyst and strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver. "Gold stocks are certainly benefiting from renewed interest in some of the undervalued names."
Junior producer Alacer Gold rose 5.67 percent to C$8.76 and Lake Shore Gold was up 5.56 percent to C$3.61. Oil prices also rose, bouncing back from earlier losses, helped by a broad rise in commodities. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global benchmark that tracks a basket of 19 commodities, ended up 0.67 percent.
Encana was up 2.32 percent at C$32.60, while Bonavista Energy rose 1.98 percent to C$28.86. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 27.18 points, or 0.2 percent, at 13,652.27. Seven of the index's 10 main groups were higher. The mining-heavy materials sector and the energy sector, which together make up nearly half of the index, were up 0.23 percent and 0.64 percent respectively.
The heavyweight financials sector ended down 0.1 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia ended down 0.1 percent at C$58.49, and Bank of Montreal lost 0.05 percent to C$62.17. Bruce Latimer, a trader at Dundee Securities, said that trading was largely directionless ahead of a long weekend in Canada. He said financial stocks would likely see more action next week when the country's big banks start to report their quarterly results.
In individual company news, Air Canada's 3,800 customer service and sales agents authorised strike action if necessary to back their bargaining position in contract talks. Air Canada's stock still managed to gain 5 Canadian cents to C$2.40, however.