TORONTO - The Toronto stock market was higher Tuesday, supported in particular by rising commodity stocks as continuing weakness in the American dollar helped send oil and metals prices higher. Investors were also pleased with a weekend pledge by the world's 20 biggest economies to support the global recovery with stimulus efforts. The S&P/TSX composite index was ahead 81.9 points to 11,099.4. The faltering greenback also gave a big lift to the Canadian dollar, off earlier highs but still up 1.15 cents to 93.17 cents US. With a global economic recovery under way and signals from the weekend's meeting of G20 finance ministers that stimulus efforts will continue, "that has some people thinking, if that's going to remain in place we'll continue to see these improving economic numbers globally and (that) is bearish for other currencies," said David Watt, senior currency analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "And that sentiment benefits the Australian dollar, the Canadian dollar, ones that are linked to commodities... and on top of that the fiscal situation in the United States - this gives the (U.S.) dollar another leg downward." The TSX energy sector was up 1.44 per cent with the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange ahead $2.12 to US$70.14 a barrel. Suncor Inc. (TSX:SU) moved up 66 cents to C$34.66 on the TSX. The gold sector was ahead 0.8 per cent as the December bullion contract ran up $6.70 to US$1,003.40 an ounce, off early highs of US$1,009.70. Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K) advanced 74 cents to C$24.54. Iamgold Corp. (TSX:IMG) shares inched up two cents to $15.05 after it said it plans to increase gold production during the initial years of operation at its Essakane project in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSX:SLW) shares gained 11 cents to $12.76 after announcing it will pay US$625 million over three years plus ongoing payments linked to market prices to buy some of the silver produced from four Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) mines. The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 13.56 points to 1,242.81. New York markets also advanced as investors took in the weekend announcements from finance officials at the Group of 20 summit in London that boosted European and Asian shares on Monday. The officials welcomed improvements in economic growth but warned recovery was not sustainable without continued government help in the form of deficit spending, low interest rates and efforts to expand the money supply. New York's Dow Jones industrial average moved up 38.2 points to 9,479.4. The Nasdaq composite index gained 8.68 points to 2,027.46 while the S&P 500 index rose 6.15 points to 1,022.55. Elsewhere on the TSX, the base metals sector moved ahead 2.3 per cent as December copper rose nine cents to US$2.95 a pound. Teck Resources gained 60 cents to C$27.10 while Equinox Minerals (TSX:EQN) improved seven cents to $2.95. All sectors were higher on the Toronto market. In economic news, contractors took out just over $4.6 billion worth of building permits in July, 11.4 per cent fewer than in June. But Statistics Canada says an important factor in the decline was the strike by civic workers in Toronto, which shut down municipal offices for most of the month. Excluding Toronto, the total value of building permits declined by 1.8 per cent. In other corporate news, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (TSX:FFH) is to offer nearly 2.9 million subordinate voting shares at US$347 each for gross proceeds of US$1 billion. Net proceeds will fund the proposed acquisition of the remainder of Odyssey Re Holdings Corp. that it does not currently own. Its shares declined $8.21 to US$369.72. Shares in Telus Corp. were ahead 22 cents to C$34.65 after it announced it has acquired Black's Photo Corp. for approximately $28 million. Investors were encouraged by news that two British mobile phone companies may merge. Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA said they intend to combine their British mobile phone units - T-Mobile UK and Orange UK - to form the country's biggest mobile operator. And while Cadbury PLC has rejected a takeover bid from Kraft Foods Inc., companies' reviving interest in making acquisitions is being seen as a positive sign for the economy. General Motors Co.'s board begins a two-day meeting in Detroit Tuesday that could see it decide the fate of its European unit Opel. GM, which has repeatedly delayed a decision, has two bids for Adam Opel GmbH to choose from. German officials, Opel workers and unions have repeatedly - and loudly - declared support for the offer from Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. (TSX:MG.A) and Russian state-backed bank Sberbank. Magna shares were off 65 cents to $46.35. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average advanced 0.7 per cent, at 10,393.23 despite a steep fall in the nation's current account surplus underlining prolonged weakness in exports - a key driver of growth for the world's No. 2 economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.1 per cent. London's FTSE 100 index and Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.1 per cent, while the Paris CAC 40 was flat.

Source