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MARKETS LIVE BLOG:

STOCKS SLIDE AFTER META'S REALITY CHECK, WITH GDP ON DECK

Owner of Facebook and Instagram plans to spend up to US$10B on AI infrastructure investments

TSX at highest since August as oil, metals prices support

Reuters
A man walks past an old Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) sign in Toronto, June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

By Alastair Sharp

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit a more than nine-month high on Monday as commodity price gains helped boost the index's heavyweight energy sector and base metal miners, although gold miners pulled back after last week's rally.

Oil prices rose for a third straight day, hovering around $50 a barrel and helping the index's energy group climb 1.8 percent.

The most influential gainers included Crescent Point Energy Corp (Toronto:CPG.TO - News), which rose 4.7 percent to C$22.86, and Enbridge Inc (Toronto:ENB.TO - News), up 1.2 percent at C$53.79.

Miners, hit hard last year by worries about demand that weighed on prices, were also among the biggest gainers.

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"If you would have started this year off by buying yesterday's losers, the dogs of the TSX, the ones that got slammed and beaten up, you would have done OK," said Barry Schwartz, portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services.

Diversified miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd (Toronto:FM.TO - News) surged 10 percent to C$10.06 after last week completing the sale of a nickel, copper and platinum mine in Finland and refinancing a credit facility.

Teck Resources Ltd (TCKb.TO) jumped 7.4 percent to C$14.87, while fertilizer company Potash Corp (Toronto:POT.TO - News) rose 6.2 percent to C$23.05.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) closed up 49.38 points, or 0.35 percent, at 14,276.16.

That was its highest since Aug. 14, with the steady gains this year helped by oil's recovery from prices in the mid-$20s a barrel.

"The next leg up, if we're going to get one, is if we're out of the woods in terms of an industrial recession in the United States," said Schwartz.

Prices for metals including zinc and copper also rose on Monday, while gold was marginally higher after sharp gains late last week.

The index's materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, rose 0.75 percent.

Barrick Gold Corp (Toronto:ABX.TO - News) declined 2.2 percent to C$24.27, Goldcorp Inc (Toronto:G.TO - News) lost 1.4 percent to C$23.31, and royalty company Franco Nevada Corp (Toronto:FNV.TO - News) slipped 1.6 percent to C$88.73.

Six of the index's 10 main groups were in positive territory.

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Diane Craft)