share this article!

2 Minute Read by Reuters Staff (Updates prices, sectors) Reuters, July 9 – On Friday, Canada’s main stock index gained as energy and mining firms rose in tandem with higher commodity prices, while official data revealed that the country added more jobs than projected in June. * The energy sector rose 0.4 percent as crude prices rose for the second day on lower stockpiles in the United States, while the materials sector, which includes precious and basic metals miners as well as fertilizer businesses, rose 0.6 percent. * The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 74.57 points, or 0.37 percent, at 20,135.78 at 9:34 a.m. ET (13:34 GMT). However, the index is expected to end the week in the red for the second week in a row, as investors remained cautious amid concerns that the economic recovery was losing pace. In June, the country added more jobs than predicted, bringing employment to within 1.8 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Statistics Canada statistics, albeit all of the gains were in part-time jobs. The financial services sector increased by 0.5 percent. The industrials sector increased by 0.4%. * With 7.35 million shares traded on the TSX, 178 stocks were higher and 45 issues were down, for a 3.96-to-1 gainer-to-loser ratio. SunOpta Inc, a food manufacturer, gained the most on the TSX, jumping 3.1 percent after brokerage BMO assumed coverage of the stock with a “outperform” recommendation. Richelieu Hardware Ltd jumped 3.0 percent as various brokerages raised the price target on the specialty hardware maker’s stock.* Real estate investment trust WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust declined 2%, the most on the TSX, and finance firm ECN Capital Corp fell 1%. Bank of Nova Scotia, Bombardier Inc, and Harte Gold Corp were the most highly traded stocks by volume. Six new 52-week highs and no new lows were recorded by the TSX. There were 15 new 52-week highs and three new lows across all Canadian issues, with total volume of 13.91 million shares. (Bengaluru-based reporter Amal S contributed to this report; Shinjini Ganguli edited it.)/nRead More

share this article!