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TORONTO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market soared to its biggest gain in over two weeks on Tuesday, as manufacturing sales increased for a third straight month.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index surged 155.73 points, or 1.07 percent, to close at 14,752.25 points. Nine of the 10 sub-sectors in the index finished the session ahead.
Statistics Canada released its monthly manufacturing survey which indicated a 0.9 percent increase in manufacturing sales to 51 billion Canadian dollars (38.9 billion U.S. dollars) in August. Sales were up in 15 of 21 industries, including food (5.4 percent), primary metal (7.8 percent) and wood (11.8 percent).
Dina Ignjatovic, Economist at TD Bank believed the upbeat numbers will continue to increase due to the strong data from south of the border, but did not believe it is enough for the Bank of Canada to raise the interest rates in tomorrow's announcement.
"This uptrend is expected to continue, with the recent pickup in U.S. consumption likely to translate into increased demand for Canadian-made goods," said Ignjatovic in a report. "We continue to expect interest rates to remain on hold for the foreseeable future."
Meanwhile, gold continued to rally, rising 0.74 percent to 1265.25 dollars an ounce. The TSX Materials Group, which features miners of gold and other metals was the biggest winner of the day, soaring 3.30 percent.
Yamana Gold stocks advanced 2.48 percent to 4.96 Canadian dollars (3.80 dollars) after it announced separating Brio Gold, their Brazilian-based subsidiary as a standalone public company.
The Australian-based OceanaGold Corporation saw shares surge 6.08 percent to 4.01 Canadian dollars (3.06 dollars) after auditors found the company did not violate local laws in the Philippines. Three weeks ago, the local government threatened to shut down as many as 20 firms, including OceanaGold due to their environmental pollution.
Health Care sector was up 1.13 percent, while Information Technology advanced 0.89 percent and Energy gained 0.87 percent.
Beside the 10 sub-sectors, Amaya Inc shares plunged 8.26 percent to 18.65 Canadian dollars (14.21 dollars) after talks of a potential merger with a British betting company William Hill PLC failed.
Crude oil prices were up slightly, as Brent crude oil for December delivery rose 0.43 percent to close at 51.77 dollars a barrel in London.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.0002 to end the day at 0.7619 dollars, compared to Monday's closing rate of 0.7617 dollars.
