TORONTO, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Canadian's main stock market bounced back from three consecutive days of losses on Thursday as energy stocks performed well.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 26.19 points, or 0.18 percent, to end the session at 14,833.75 points. Half of the 10 sub-sectors in the index moved into positive territory on the day. ' The TSX Energy group continued its strong month, rising 1.77 percent during the session. Over the last 30 days, the sector has been up 13.41 percent.
Suncor Energy, Canada's largest producer of oil and gas, contributed in a big way as stocks soared 5.66 percent to 31.09 U.S. dollars after better than expected third quarter financials.
The Calgary-based firm had net earnings of about 293 million U.S. dollars, compared to a 281-million-U.S.-dollar loss in the same quarter of 2015. The company also commented that operations in the oil sands had returned to normal following the Fort McMurray wildfire in May.
Also contributing to the strong performance of the energy sector was Brent crude oil rising 0.50 U.S. dollar to 50.37 U.S. dollars for a barrel in London in December. As a result, energy producers Cenovus Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. shares grew 2.78 percent and 2.72 percent, respectively.
The TSX Financials group climbed 0.22 percent as National Bank of Canada stocks rose 1.75 percent to 35.65 U.S. dollars after the country's sixth largest bank announced its intention to cut 600 jobs and eliminate 300 others, saving 90 million U.S. dollars annually. At the same time, the financial institution will also hire 500 new employees to focus on the digital side of the banking industry.
Industrials and Information Technology sub-sectors also advanced on the day, gaining 0.21 percent and 0.16 percent, respectively.
The health care sector was hit the hardest on the day, dipping 1.62 percent as shares of retirement home operators Chartwell Retirement Residences and Extendicare Inc. declined 1.39 percent and 1.79 percent, respectively.
The materials sub-sector, which features miners of gold and other metals, fell for a second straight session, retreating 0.89 percent.
Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold miner stocks, rose 1.39 percent to 16.85 U.S. dollars after posting strong quarterly earnings. Teck Resources could not keep up, as earnings fell below expectations causing Class B shares to fall 0.71 percent to 20.87 U.S. dollars.
Utilities and Consumer Discretionary sub-sectors also faded on the day, dropping 0.52 percent and 0.33 percent, respectively.
On the economic front, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is one step closer to being finalized after the Belgian region of Wallonia ended a holdout to keep the deal alive. CETA is a proposed free-trade agreement between the European Union and Canada that would eliminate the majority of tariffs, improve intellectual property rights, and allow the movement of employees between regions.
The Canadian dollar ended the day down 0.0004 to finish at 0.7471 U.S. dollar.
