Canadian shares rose, halting an 8-session rout, as resources jumped amid growing tension on the heels of the terrorist attacksin Paris.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) rose 0.9% to 13,195.22 at 12:29 p.m. in Toronto. Three shares advanced for every issue that retreated as all of the ten share groups were in positive territory.
The 242-company benchmark gauge for Canadian equities (TSE:OSPTX) has lost 10% so far this year, compared with a 1.2% drop for the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX).
The energy sector, the main index's second most heavily weighted group, rose 1.3% as U.S. crude turned positive in afternoon trade on Monday. Suncor Energy (TSE:SU), Canada's biggest energy company, rose 1.8% to C$37.61.
U.S. crude futures traded up $0.57 at $41.31 a barrel, having touched a session low of $40.06.
The materials sub-index, which includes mining shares, inched up 0.3% as gold rebounded on Monday. Goldcorp (TSE:G), Canada’s largest gold miner by market value, tacked on 0.4% to C$16.06. U.S. gold futures gained more than 1% to a session high of $1,097.40.
The financials group, which accounts for approximately 38% of the main measure, more than any other group, rose 1.3%. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY), which has the heaviest weighting in the index, jumped 0.7% to C$74.48.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) inched up 0.3% to 525.44. Westaim (CVE:WED), the heaviest stock in the gauge, surrendered 0.3% to C$2.90, erasing an earlier gain. The 432-company measure, where energy and materials producers account for approximately 62% of its weighting, had lost 25% this year before today.
In corporate news, Antibe Therapeutics (CVE:ATE), a commercial-stage healthcare company, signed an exclusive long-term license and distribution agreement with Knight Therapeutics (TSE:GUD), a Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company, for Antibe’s anti-inflammatory and pain drugs, ATB-346, ATB-352 and ATB-340, as well as the rights to other, future Antibe prescription drugs.
Radient Technologies (CVE:RTI), which extracts natural compounds from a range of biological materials, plains to raise C$750,000 through a non-brokered private placement.
In economic news, Canadian existing home sales reached the second-highest in almost six years in October on gains in Toronto and Vancouver. The number of transactions rose by 1.8 percent, the fastest since May, to 42,964, the Canadian Real Estate Association said from Ottawa on Monday.
Canadian factory sales declined at the fastest pace in seven months in September, led by lower receipts in the automobile and petroleum industries.