TSX advances, lifted by Valeant, financial services
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index inched higher on Tuesday, helped by gains among materials stocks and financial names, while lower oil prices weighed on energy companies.
* The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended up 10.52 points, or 0.07 percent, at 16,114.03.
* Six of its 10 main groups finished in positive territory, although decliners slightly outnumbered advancers overall.
* The energy group retreated 0.5 percent, as oil prices dropped after hitting a two-year high on an unplanned closure of a major pipeline that carries North Sea crude. [O/R]
* The financials group gained 0.2 percent, with Element Fleet Management Corp up 8.7 percent at C$10.46.
* The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.6 percent. Potash Corp gained 2.8 percent to C$25.48 and its planned merger partner Agrium Inc gained 2.9 percent at C$142.85 after agreeing to buy a fertilizer business in Australia.
* Teck Resources rose 0.7 percent to C$30.11 even as a union at its Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile said some of its workers were set to strike on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by John Tilak; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Tom Brown)