BS: Canadian Stocks Gain for First Time in Four Days on Weak Dollar
By Matt Walcoff
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose for the first time in four days as the U.S. dollar fell the most in two weeks against a basket of world currencies, lifting prices of oil and gold.
Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s largest oil and gas producer, gained 1.5 percent as crude futures ended a four-day slide. Goldcorp Inc., the country’s second-biggest gold producer, added 1.6 percent as bullion advanced for the first time since Jan. 26. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest bank, increased 0.7 percent as financial shares climbed from their lowest point since Nov. 4.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rallied 78.86 points, or 0.7 percent, to 11,173.17 at 9:32 a.m. in Toronto.
After falling from March to November, the U.S. Dollar Index has surged 6.2 percent since Dec. 2 largely on concerns about budget deficits in Greece and other European countries, leading to slumps in oil and gold prices. Commodity-linked companies make up 45 percent of Canadian stocks by market value.
--Editor: Stephen Kleege
To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Walcoff in Toronto at +1-416-203-5729 or mwalcoff1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at +1-212-617-5919 or nbaker7@bloomberg.net
