Canadian shares surged as energy companies erased an earlier decline and banks gained, and investors cheered forecast-beating crude inventory data out of the United States.
The benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) rose 0.9 percent at 14,199.14 at 12:48 p.m. in Toronto. Four shares advanced for every issue that declined as eight out of ten share groups were in the positive territory.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, rose 1.8 percent as oil prices reversed earlier losses and rose. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, increased 1.6 percent to C$33.72. Enbridge (TSE:ENB), Canada's largest pipeline company, skidded 0.2 percent to C$55.26.
U.S. crude for September delivery rose 2.2 percent to $49.02 a barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a decline of 4.2 million barrels in crude supplies for the week ended July 24. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a crude-stock fall of 700,000 barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute yesterday said supplies declined 1.9 million barrels.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, added 0.3 percent as gold steadied. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, rose 0.4 percent to C$16.45. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), the second-largest, gained 3 percent to C$9.19. First Quantum Minerals (TSE:FM), a copper miner, inched up 0.1 percent to C$11.08.
Spot gold was at $1,095.10 an ounce, little changed from late yesterday, while U.S. gold for August delivery was down 0.2 percent at $1,094.50 an ounce.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, advanced 1.8 percent. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, climbed 1.7 percent to C$74.84. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, rose 1.9 percent to C$52.13.
Bombardier (TSE:BBD.B) jumped 6.3 percent to C$1.93. Germany’s Siemens AG is in talks to combine its rail unit with Bombardier train business, people familiar with the matter told WSJ. The talks are at an early stage and a deal is far from guaranteed, the people said.
Toromont Industries (TSE:TIH) advanced 6.8 percent to C$34.24 after posting a 26 percent improvement in second-quarter earnings, while revenue rose 17 percent. BMO upgraded the stock to outperform, calling it a “solid” quarter.
CGI Group (TSE:GIB.A) sank 3.3 percent to C$48.55 after saying its third-quarter profit rose 14.3% to C$257.2 million, or C$0.80 per share. The information-technology company also said it will take up to a C$60 million pretax charge over the next six months.
Wi-LAN (TSE:WIN) dropped 2.8 percent to C$2.48 even as adjusted earnings climbed to 21 cents a share, ahead of the 17 cents analysts polled by Capital IQ expected.
Torstar (TSE:TS.B) sank 5.2 percent to C$4.94 after swinging to a second-quarter loss from continuing operations of C$0.01 per share from a profit of C$0.23 per share a year earlier.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (CVE:OSPVX) was little changed at 586.71 at 12:27 p.m. in Toronto.
In the U.S. market, shares moved higher ahead of the statement from the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting due to be released this afternoon. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) added 0.6 percent to 2,105.45 at 11:42 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) gained 0.7 percent to 17,746.92, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) rose 0.3 percent to 5,104.71. Most followed shares included Twitter, Citrix Systems, Garmin, Akamai Technologies, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Altria, Anthem, Hilton, and Hess.