TORONTO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market reached a three-week high Thursday as commodities rallied and data showed rapid growth in the domestic economy.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index jumped 78.74 points, or 0.52 percent, to close the day at 15,211.87. Eight of the index's 10 main groups ended higher.
Energy stocks led the charge. Cenovus Energy rose 37 cents, or 3.9 percent, to 9.80 Canadian dollars. Encana Corp rose 27 cents, or 2.4 percent, to 11.66 Canadian dollars as oil and gas stocks, which rallied 1.3 percent, were helped by crude oil prices that settled 2.8 percent higher.
Tech stocks followed close behind, as BlackBerry climbed 17 cents, or 1.5 percent, to 11.59 Canadian dollars while Constellation Software gained 11.10 Canadian dollars, or 1.6 percent, to 696.93 Canadian dollars.
TD Bank, Canada's second-biggest lender, was by far the biggest influence on the index. Its shares gained 3.3 percent to 67.06 Canadian dollars, its biggest advance since February 2016.
Canadian Western Bank CWB.TO gained 1.1 percent to 29.00 Canadian dollars after it also reported better-than-expected results, while the overall financials group gained 0.5 percent.
Statistics Canada data showed that Canada's gross domestic product grew at an annualized 4.5 percent in the second quarter, far more than the 3.7 percent economists forecasted, reinforcing expectations the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates in October.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.88 cents to 0.80.1 U.S.dollar while oil prices gained 1.11 to 47.07 U.S.dollars a barrel and gold prices rallied 12.70 to 1,326.80 U.S.dollars an ounce.
