May 20 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index rose on Thursday, as data showed the country added more jobs in April, but gains were capped by energy stocks tracking a fall in oil prices.
* At 09:38 a.m. ET (13:38 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 13 points, or 0.07%, at 19,430.03.
* Canada added 351,300 jobs in April despite a tightening of COVID-19 restrictions, led by gains in the leisure and hospitality, as well as the trade, transportation and utilities sectors, a report from payroll services provider ADP showed.
* Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd rose 3.6% after reiterating its commitment to buy Kansas City Southern and asked the U.S. railroad operator to reject rival Canadian National Railway’s takeover offer.
* The energy sector dropped 1.0% as U.S. crude prices were down 0.2% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.5%.
* The financials sector gained 0.1%, while industrials rose 0.6%.
* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.2% as gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,874.6 an ounce.
* On the TSX, 108 issues advanced, while 107 issues declined in a 1.01-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 17.94 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Lightspeed Pos Inc, which jumped 12.1%, and ATS Automation Tooling Systems, which rose 9.4%, after posting strong quarterly revenue.
* Teck Resources Ltd fell 3.5%, the most on the TSX, and Turquoise Hill Resources , down 2.4%, was the second biggest decliner.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Manulife Financial Corp, Sun Life Financial and Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp.
* The TSX posted seven new 52-week highs and no new low.
* Across Canadian issues there were 20 new 52-week highs and three new lows, with total volume of 29.53 million shares. (Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
