Tuesday, 21 July 2015 22:57
TORONTO: Canada’s main stock index rose on Tuesday as a rebound in commodity prices helped drive up shares of energy and mining companies.
Shares of gold miners tumbled in the previous session, with the price of gold dropping to a five-year low, sparked by Chinese selling.
Shares of Barrick Gold Corp, the world’s biggest gold producer, dropped nearly 16 percent on Monday. But on Tuesday the benchmark TSX index’s gold-mining group jumped 4.5 percent, with the energy sector adding 1.3 percent.
“We’re making a bit of a comeback after yesterday’s selloff,” said Irwin Michael, portfolio manager at ABC Funds.
“The volatility is still substantial. The oversupply issues in resources, particularly energy, need to be resolved,” he added.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 52.86 points, or 0.37 percent, at 14,478.41.
Five of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher. The choppiness in resource shares has weighed on the index this year. It is down about 1.1 percent so far in 2015.
Among shares of energy producers on Tuesday, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd advanced 1.9 percent to C$ 32.08 and Suncor Energy Inc rose 0.2 percent to C$ 33.93.
In the gold-mining sector, Barrick advanced 4 percent to C$ 9.96 and Goldcorp Inc jumped 5.1 percent to C$ 17.59.
