Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, helped by encouraging estimates of domestic wholesale data and gains in Corus Entertainment Inc after multiple brokerages went bullish on the stock following a strong quarterly result.

At 9:36 a.m. ET (1336 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 30.1 points, or 0.18%, at 16,309.46.

The nation's wholesale sales in September most likely increased by 0.4% after rising 0.3% in August, Statscan said in a flash estimate.

Media company Corus Entertainment Inc was the largest percentage gainer on the index, jumping 9.5% after multiple brokerages raised their price targets on its stock following upbeat quarterly results.

Canfor Corp was the next big gainer, rising 3.7% after the company posted third-quarter earnings above analysts' estimates.

The energy sector shed its initial gains and dropped 0.2%, even as US crude prices ticked up 0.2% a barrel and Brent crude added 0.1%.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.6% even though gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,907.4 an ounce.

On the TSX, 139 issues were higher, while 78 issues declined for a 1.78-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 9.93 million shares traded.

Blackberry Ltd fell 2.1%, the most on the TSX, and the second-biggest decliner was Lundin Gold Inc, down 2.1%.

The most heavily-traded shares by volume were Echelon Financial Holdings Inc, Bombardier Inc, and Air Canada.

The TSX posted three new 52-week highs and no new lows.

Across all Canadian issues there were eight new 52-week highs and two new lows, with a total volume of 19.02 million shares.