Mining stocks lead the charge on TSX

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index closed up in a broad-based advance led by mining stocks while the loonie rose moderately as economic growth numbers came in higher than expected.

Mining stocks were up as metal prices rose following a report that China and the United States could resume talks to resolve trade issues, said Brian See, vice president at CIBC Asset Management.

“Copper’s been quite strong, it’s up one and a half per cent at least today, and it’s more of a function of just there’s been headlines of the U.S. and China resuming trade talks because they’ve been embattled in this trade war,” said See.

The September copper contract closed up four cents at US$2.83 a pound as the metal is heavily dependent on continued Chinese economic growth.

“The potential of them coming back to the table should alleviate some of the fears, and at least potentially resume some of the global growth trajectory that we were originally on,” said See.

The S&P/TSX capped materials index was up 1.17 per cent to have the second strongest gains, behind only the healthcare index which climbed 1.2 per cent.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index as a whole closed up 88.54 points at 16,434.01 as all sectors outside of information technology climbed. The index closed at its trading high for the day.

Energy stocks were down during the day as the September crude contract closed down $1.37 at US$68.76 per barrel, but the energy index ended the day up 0.28 per cent. Oil prices were under pressure as Russia exceeded its OPEC quota and Saudi Arabia also increased production, said See.

“With that additional supply coming out on the market there’s just technically at this point more supply than demand leading some weakness in the price there.”

The S&P/TSX capped information technology index was the only one to end down for the day with a slight 0.06 per cent decline.

Shopify was the main cause of the drag as it closed down $10.64, or 5.55 per cent, to $181.22 to add to several days of declines. The drop was despite the company beating revenue earnings, though its pace of growth has slowed while losses increased.

Overall the Toronto Stock Exchange saw 311.78 million shares traded.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 108.36 points at 25,415.19. The S&P 500 index closed up 13.69 points at 2,816.29 and the Nasdaq composite index ended up 41.79 points at 7,671.79.

The Canadian dollar averaged 76.82 cents US, up 0.02 of a US cent, as Statistics Canada said the economy grew by 0.5 per cent in May, higher than market expectations of 0.3 per cent.

The September natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.78 per mmBTU. The December gold contract ended up $2.10 at US$1,233.60 an ounce.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. closed down $1.63, or 8.17 per cent, to $18.32 after reporting its first loss after 52 consecutive quarters of profits. The company reported a loss of $20.8 million in the second quarter and adjusted some of its 2018 expectations. The airline said its earnings were hit by the impact of a pilot strike threat, intensified competition and soaring fuel costs.

Meanwhile, energy giant BP said it is increasing its dividend for the first time in almost four years after second-quarter earnings quadrupled on higher oil prices and streamlined production. Underlying replacement cost profit jumped to $2.82 billion from $684 million in the same quarter a year earlier. CEO Bob Dudley said the 2.5 per cent dividend increase reflects “our confidence in the future.”