TSX soars to best week of year so far

The Toronto Stock Exchange registered a slight loss Friday but still finished the week up more than 600 points, making it the best week of the year for Canada’s largest stock market. The S&P/TSX composite index gave back 14.30 points to close at 13,964.36, while the oil-sensitive loonie gained 0.48 of a U.S. cent to 77.30 cents (U.S.) amid general U.S. dollar weakness.

The energy sector of the TSX was the biggest decliner, slipping 1.3 per cent, while financials lost 0.6 per cent. Gold stocks climbed 3.7 per cent following an increase in the price of the commodity.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 33.74 points to 17,084.49, while the broader S&P 500 climbed 1.46 points to 2,014.89 and the Nasdaq added 19.68 points to 4,830.47.

Kevin Headland, director of capital markets and strategy at Manulife Asset Management, said that after a massive sell-off stemming from concerns about lagging global growth, investors are now back in the game.

“People are realizing that maybe the reaction was oversold,” said Headland.

Commodity prices have recovered somewhat, with oil bouncing back to around the $50-a-barrel mark thanks to lower rig counts.

However, Headland says investors should remain cautious, as it’s un- likely that the price of crude will climb much further.

“I don’t think oil is going to move back up to $60 in a straight line,” Headland said. “We’re probably going to bounce around this level, around the 50 mark, for some time until we see some meaningful change in either supply or demand dynamics.”

On commodity markets, the December gold contract rose $11.60 to $1,155.90 an ounce, while December copper shot up seven cents to $2.41 a pound. The November contract for benchmark oil gained 20 cents to $49.63 a barrel, while November natural gas added 0.4 of a cent to $2.50 per thousand cubic feet.

European and Asian markets also enjoyed a banner week, with Germa- ny’s DAX up 5.7 per cent, France’s CAC-40 up 5.4 per cent and London’s FTSE up 4.7 per cent this week. In Asia, markets in Japan, China and Hong Kong were all up about 4 per cent on the week.

In corporate news, shares in commodities group Glencore closed up 7 per cent in London after the company said it was slashing its zinc production by a third and cutting jobs in response to a sharp fall in the price of the metal.

Airline stocks were among the biggest gainers on the S&P 500 after the companies said their flights flew nearly full last month. American Airlines rose 6.7 per cent and United Continental was up 6.6 per cent while JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines each gained 3 per cent.