Toronto market ends higher as commodity prices climb
By Fergal Smith
(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index ended higher on Thursday, clawing back its earlier losses, as higher commodity prices offset worries that sticky inflation in the United States could delay Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended up 11.66 points, or 0.1%, at 21,885.38, recovering after it was down more than 1% earlier in the session.
"It's doing a lot better than the U.S. market," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. "When the U.S. market is tanking, gold is usually going up. That always cushions us on the downside."
Wall Street stocks fell as markets were stunned by data showing slower-than-expected U.S. economic growth and persistent inflation coupled with a sell-off in large cap stocks.
The materials group, which includes metal miners and fertilizer companies, rallied 2.2% as gold and copper prices climbed.
Teck Resources Ltd reported a 74% rise in quarterly copper production, helped by a ramp-up at its Quebrada Blanca (QB) mine in Chile, sending its shares up 8.7%.
Energy also gained ground, rising 0.7%, as the price of oil settled 0.9% higher at $83.57 a barrel.
Bombardier obtained an exemption from recent Canadian sanctions on Russian titanium, its CEO said, as it joined Airbus in securing a government waiver that allows access to the strategic metal. Shares of Bombardier climbed 8.3%.
Technology shares were among the biggest decliners, with the sector falling 1.8%.
Shares of Mullen Group sank 9.1% after the logistics provider's first-quarter results missed analysts' estimates.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ravi Prakash Kumar and Daniel Wallis)
