Canadian shares advanced as higher crude prices helped lift energy producers for the third straight session. The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) rose 0.9 percent to 15,206 at 12:35 p.m. in Toronto. More than two shares advanced for every issue that declined as eight out of the ten share groups were in the positive territory.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, rose 2.1 percent as crude oil prices climbed today. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, rose 1.5 percent to C$36.94. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, gained 2 percent to C$62.27.
Pacific Rubiales Energy (TSE:PRE), a Canadian-Colombian oil company, rose 2.2 percent to C$6.32. Mexican conglomerate Alfa S.A.B. de C.V. and Harbour Energy Ltd. agreed to offer C$6.50 a share for the shares of Pacific Rubiales they don’t already own. The deal values Pacific Rubiales at about $1.7 billion.
Husky Energy (TSE:HSE) advanced 1.6 percent to $24.97 after saying it started commercial steam operations at its Rush Lake heavy oil thermal project in Saskatchewan and expects the operation to ramp up to full production shortly.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contracts for July delivery climbed 2.4 percent to $60.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose 2.1 percent to $66.41 a barrel.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, jumped 0.7 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, advanced 1.2 percent to C$80.52. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, added 0.7 percent to C$56.28.
Element Financial (TSE:EFN) fell 3.2 percent to $17.31 after the fleet management and equipment-finance company said it plans to raise C$2.2 billion of new capital through offerings of subscription receipts, convertible debentures and preferred shares.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, fell 0.3 percent as gold prices edged lower today. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, fell 0.8 percent to C$22.40. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, lost 0.7 percent to C$15.03.
First Quantum Minerals (TSE:FM) fell 5 percent to C$16.40. The copper miner said it aims to raise at least C$1.25 billion from a public share offering in Canada. Terms of the offering haven’t yet been set.
Gold for June delivery on Comex dropped 0.5 percent to $1,202.50 an ounce, while July silver lost 0.3 percent to $17.07 an ounce.
Open Text (TSE:OTC) sank 11.8 percent to $52.74 after issuing disappointing quarterly guidance as foreign-exchange headwinds and challenging industry conditions weigh on results.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) rose 0.5 percent to 698.94 at 11:05 a.m.
In economic news, The Bank of Canada may be forced to cut interest rates to zero in the next six to 18 months as a rising Canadian dollar threatens the economic recovery, Bloomberg reported, citing Fidelity Investment’s David Wolf.
In the U.S. market,shares were struggling to push higher today as investors scrutinized a number of economic reports a day after the Federal Reserve minutes signaled a June interest-rate hike was unlikely. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) added 0.3 percent to 2,132 at 11:30 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) rose 0.2 percent at 18,312, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) jumped 0.4 percent to 5,094. Most followed shares included Best Buy, CVS Health, Salesforce.com, NetApp, Qualcomm, Williams-Sonoma, L Brands, Lumber Liquidator, and Dollar Tree.