Canadian shares extended gains for a third session on Tuesday as commodities producers benefited from the rising price of metals and oil.
The resource-heavy benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) rose 0.6% to 13,637.01 at 10:32 a.m. in Toronto.
Three shares advanced for every stock that declined as five out of the ten share groups were in positive territory.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, rose 2.8% as gold prices gained on increasing tensions between Russia and Turkey.
Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, added 3.5% to C$18.00. Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), Canada’s second-largest gold miner, jumped 5.7% to $9.47.
Spot gold rose 1.2% to a ten-day high of $1,149.70 an ounce.
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, advanced 2.1% as oil, Canada’s largest export, rose on growing expectations of production cuts.
Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's largest oil sands producer, added 0.6% to $34.78. Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSE:CNQ), Canada’s second-largest energy producer, inched up 2.9% to C$29.03.
West Texas Intermediate was up 2.7% to $47.52 on NYMEX.
Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, added 0.6%. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, gained 0.9% to C$73.20.
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), the second-largest bank by market value, increased 0.6% to C$52.73.
In economic news, Canada’s merchandise trade deficit widened in August, as energy and consumer goods led the biggest drop in exports in more than three years.
Separately, Ivey Purchasing Managers Index data released on Tuesday showed the pace of purchasing activity in Canada slowed in September as a decline in the measure of prices offset gains in employment and inventories.
In the U.S. market, shares wavered between gains and losses as investors wrestled to interpret the impact of weak trade deficit data.