TSX closes higher as investors snap up energy, financials; oil stocks lift N.Y.

| North American markets | International markets | Bonds | Currency | Commodities |

Strong buying interest in energy and financial stocks pushed the Toronto stock market to a solid gain Monday.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 87.01 points to 10,476.77 ahead of a shortened trading week in Canada and the United States.

The TSX energy sector was ahead 1.4% as the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved up $2.33 to US$71.49.

The rise came amid a report from the International Energy Agency that it is cutting at least three million barrels a day from its oil demand forecasts for the coming five years.

But prices found support after Nigerian militants damaged and partly shut down an offshore oil platform belonging to Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Prices also rose in reaction to China’s plans to increase its strategic crude oil reserves by 60%. EnCana Corp. gained 75 cents to $57.56, while Suncor Inc. was up 52 cents to $35.40.

The financial sector was up 1.7%. Scotiabank was ahead $1.24 to $44.24 and Royal Bank improved $1.15 to $48.69.

The Canadian dollar moved down 0.19 of a cent to 86.45 cents US.

The TSX Venture Exchange declined six points to 1,105.56.

The TSX built on a gain of just under 1% last week. The market’s main index closed Friday about 300 points shy of the 2009 high of 10,714 set on June 11, at which point the TSX had surged 41% since the start of the spring rally.

But analysts think that the market is in for a second wind.

"I would think that once we see the second-quarter numbers, it will be `are those green shoots actually emerging’ — and probably they will be because we’re going to have an inventory rebuild," said Gavin Graham, director of investments at BMO Asset Management.

"Now (investors) know the world isn’t coming to an end, you need to rebuild them at least to a level that enables you to fulfill customer demand. And so that’s going to give us a really good kicker in the second and third quarter."

However, after that he sees a lackluster showing on markets as global economies work their way out of a serious recession.

"You’ve seen the forecasts from the people at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank saying we’re going to be growing next year and maybe it’s going to be 1% and that’s quite frankly a pretty unimpressive rate of growth," added Graham.

Rising energy stocks also helped drive New York markets higher after both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 lost ground last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average moved ahead 90.99 points to 8,529.38 with ExxonMobil ahead $1.66 to US$70.71.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 5.84 points to 1,844.06 while the S&P 500 edged up 8.33 points to 927.23.

The trading week — shortened by Canada Day on Wednesday and by a U.S. holiday on Friday — will see key economic data that will give investors a better sense of where the economy is headed.

Statistics Canada will release April gross domestic product figures on Tuesday. Economists expect to see a contraction of 0.1% on the month, following a 0.3% dip in March.

And on Thursday, the U.S. government releases its June employment report. Investors are braced for the American economy to shed 365,000 jobs during the month.

Outside of the energy, financial and utilities groups, performance was lacklustre in Toronto with declines led by a 0.7% dip in the base metals sector, even as copper prices rose 1.9 cents to US$2.3125 a pound

Teck Cominco Ltd. stepped back 55 cents to $18.58 and HudBay Minerals declined 12 cents to $7.76.

The market also got support from heavyweight Potash Corp. up $2.69 to $110.35 despite its announcement at the end of last week that it was cutting its earnings guidance.

And coffee giant Tim Hortons Inc. is returning its home base to Canada with a plan to reorganize and convert to a Canadian-based corporation. Tim Hortons says the reorganization will save money due to Canada’s lower tax rates and make international expansion easier. Its shares edged up nine cents to $28.75.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,529.38	+90.99 or +1.08%	-2.81%
S&P 500	927.23	+8.33 or +0.91%	+2.65%
NASDAQ	1,844.06	+5.84 or +0.32%	+16.93%
TSX Composite	10,476.77	+87.01 or +0.84%	+16.57%

International markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,783.47	-93.92 or -0.95%	+10.43%
Hang Seng	18,528.51	-71.75 or -0.39%	+28.78%
SENSEX	14,785.74	+21.10 or +0.14%	+53.26%
FTSE 100	4,294.03	+53.02 or +1.25%	-3.16%
CAC 40	3,193.68	+63.95 or +2.04%	-0.75%
DAX	4,885.09	+108.62 or +2.27%	+1.56%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.01	103.08	3.39
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.84	118.99	3.89
U.S. 10-year bond	97.00	96.84	3.49
U.S. 30-year bond	99.09	99.13	4.30

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8645	0.8664
US $	1.1567	1.1542

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6140	0.6159
Euro	1.6286	1.6237

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$939.75	$935.50

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$71.51	+$2.35 or +3.40%

(06/29/09)