Yahoo Finance TSX rallies as energy, banking stocks rebound
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rallied on Monday, led by gains in heavyweight energy and banking stocks, helped by a rebound in crude oil after the Paris attacks raised geopolitical tensions.
The sharp gain followed a 3.5 percent drop for the index last week.
"It is a little bit of a technical bounce, it got oversold," said Paul Hand, managing director at RBC Capital Markets.
The overall energy group soared 4.3 percent, helped by a sharp rally in crude oil after finding support ahead of $40 a barrel. [O/R]
The most influential energy stocks were Suncor Energy Inc (Toronto:SU.TO - News), which rose 3.8 percent to C$38.32, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (Toronto:CNQ.TO - News), which rose 5.2 percent to C$33.18.
"(It) seems like some pretty good demand for commodities today which is helping the TSX," said Youssef Zohny, portfolio manager at StennerZohny Investment Partners of Richardson GMP Ltd.
Financials advanced 1.6 percent, including a 1.5 percent gain for Royal Bank of Canada (Toronto:RY.TO - News) and a 1.7 percent gain for Bank of Nova Scotia (Toronto:BNS.TO - News).
"There's some anticipation of interest rate increases and some investors are taking that as potentially good for some bank profit margins," said Zohny.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) closed up 242.10 points, or 1.85 percent, to 13,317.52, with all ten of the index's main groups in positive territory.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 202 to 37, for a 5.46-to-1 ratio on the upside.
Among other influential stocks, convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc (ATDb.TO) rose 4.6 percent to C$59.59.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (Toronto:VRX.TO - News) fell 2.7 percent, extending recent volatility in the face of questions about the company's drug pricing and business and accounting practices.
Hedge funds Omega Advisors and Jana Partners have said they sold their entire stakes in Valeant.
Air Canada (Toronto:AC.TO - News) fell 1.4 percent to C$11.31 as the Paris attacks weighed on global airline stocks.
TMX Group (Toronto:X.TO - News) fell more than 1 percent to C$47. The company said it is expanding its offerings to service the mutual fund industry..
U.S. crude prices settled at $41.74 a barrel, up 2.45 percent, while Brent crude added 0.7 percent to $44.78.
Gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,085.4 an ounce. [GOL/]
Copper prices declined 2.8 percent to $4,690 a tonne. [MET/L]
(Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by James Dalgleish and Phil Berlowitz)
