OTTAWA: Canadian stocks rose to a one-week high as commodities producers rallied with the prices of resources from oil to industrial metals.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 13,788.21 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, for a second day of gains. The gauge now trades at 20.9 times earnings, about 9.2 percent higher than the 19.2 times valuation of the S&P 500, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Volume was 15 percent higher than the 30-day average.
Energy shares paced gains, as five of 10 groups in the S&P/TSX advanced. Crude futures in New York rallied as much as 3.7 percent to settle above $46 a barrel after a government report showed an unexpected drop in inventories.
Encana Corp. jumped 13 percent, the most in two months, after people with knowledge of the matter said it’s weighing the sale of some of its shale assets in Western Canada as part of an effort to bolster its balance sheet amid protracted low oil prices. Tourmaline Oil Corp. added 4.4 percent.
Crude prices slipped earlier as Canadian oil-sands facilities, which were taken off line due to the wildfires in Alberta, were unscathed and are now expected to restart within days to a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, raw-materials producers ended the day with the best advance in the Canadian benchmark. Barrick Gold Corp. and Eldorado Gold Corp. rose as gold advanced for a second day after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised price forecasts. Kinross Gold Corp. lost 5.7 percent after posting disappointing first-quarter earnings. Analysts at Deutsche Bank AG and Mackie Research cut their ratings for the stock.
Separately, copper and zinc led a rebound in industrial metals from the lowest levels in a month after Glencore Plc said it sees shortages emerging. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. climbed 8.2 percent.
InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust surged a record 29 percent after agreeing to sell itself to Bluesky Hotels & Resorts Inc., a closely held company backed by capital from Hong Kong. The C$2.1-billion ($1.6 billion) deal gives the Chinese firm a stake in Toronto’s historic Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
Intertain Group Ltd. jumped 10 percent after reporting there have been preliminary offers to acquire the online gaming company in recent weeks and a special committee is weighing all proposals. Intertain expects to provide an update on the process by the end of June. The company also posted first-quarter earnings ahead of expectations.
Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc. climbed 13 percent to a record after posting first-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates on a 17 percent increase in revenue. Same-store sales also surged 12 percent at the mattress retailer.
