THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Toronto stock market closed higher for a fifth session today amid positive industrial data from Canada and the U.S.
The Toronto energy and gold sectors led the way to a gain of 59.77 points to 11,555.6 on the main S&P/TSX composite index, its highest close since the end of September, 2008.
The solid showing followed a report showing that U.S. industrial companies boosted production more than expected in August.
The Federal Reserve says output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8 per cent in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.6 per cent increase.
"No doubt about it, the U.S. economy is recovering faster than expected, though questions remain about the sustained strength of the expansion," said BMO Capital Markets senior economist Sal Guatieri.
And Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose 5.5 per cent in July to $41.4 billion, adding to the 2.2 per cent increase reported in June, thanks to improved performances in the motor vehicle and primary metals industries.
Excluding the motor vehicle assembly and motor vehicle parts industries, manufacturing sales increased 2.1 per cent.
"July's strong manufacturing report provides additional force to the case for renewed growth in the third quarter," said TD Bank (TSX: TD) economist Grant Bishop.
"However, with indicators of future shipments easing, we do not anticipate that manufacturing will see rapid gains in the months ahead."
The gold sector was up 0.77 per cent on Wednesday as inflation worries and a weaker U.S. dollar helped push the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $13.90 to US$1,020.20 an ounce. It earlier reached an intraday high of US$1,023.30, its highest level since March 2008.
On the TSX, Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: ABX) climbed 39 cents to C$41.09.
The energy sector rose 0.88 per cent as the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.58 to US$72.51 a barrel after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a decrease of 4.7 million barrels of oil in the U.S. last week, a bigger decline than the three million barrel drop expected by analysts. Suncor Inc. (TSX: SU) gained 79 cents to C$39.44.
Opti Canada Inc. (TSX: OPC) stock soared 57 cents or 33.93 per cent to $2.25 on heavy trading of 21 million shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Opti's sole business is a minority stake in Nexen Inc.'s (TSX: NXY) Long Lake oil sands project.
The reason for the spike wasn't immediately clear, although the company had made a bullish presentation on Tuesday morning at a major oil and gas conference in Calgary. Opti is also frequently the subject of takeover rumours that tend to make its shares volatile.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.57 of a cent to 93.91 cents US, after rising more than a cent Tuesday amid yet another warning from the Bank of Canada that the strong loonie could derail an economic recovery.
The TSX has racked up a strong series of gains on hopes for a strong recovery and a positive third-quarter earnings season, leaving the market up 52 per cent since the lows of early March and up 28 per cent year to date.
However, analysts think the markets face some stiff headwinds in the near term that could erode those gains, pointing out that the runup has been almost straight up "and the fact that this rally has advanced further than previous rallies coming out of a bear market in the past 50 years," said Phillip Petursson, director of institutional equities at MFC Global Investment Management.
He added that the third and fourth quarters of 2009 could surprise to the upside but if consumers continue to pay down debt and cut spending, "that's going to keep growth somewhat subdued into 2010."
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 15.19 points to 1,284.54.
New York markets were up sharply as the Dow Jones industrial average rose 108.3 points to 9,791.71.
The Nasdaq composite index moved up 30.51 points to 2,133.15 while the S&P 500 index gained 16.13 points to 1,068.76.
Investors were little swayed Wednesday by the latest report on U.S. consumer prices. The Commerce Department said its consumer price index, a measure of inflation at the retail level, rose 0.4 per cent in August, just above the 0.3 per cent rise economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected.
Excluding volatile energy and food prices, the index rose 0.1 per cent, in line with expectations.
Elsewhere on the TSX, the base metals sector rose 0.34 per cent as the December copper contract jumped 9.15 cents to US$2.9365 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.B) gained 75 cents to $30.
In corporate news, the Globe and Mail reported that Magna International Inc.'s (TSX: MG.A) has been told by BMW, the auto parts giant's second-largest customer, that the close relationship between the two companies could be in jeopardy. It said that the German automaker fears Magna will go from parts supplier to competitor if the Canadian company fulfills its goal of leaping into the ranks of mass producers through an ownership stake in Adam Opel GmbH. Magna shares lost $1.92 to $45.09.
Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (TSX: HW) says a winter shutdown at the Diavik mine in Canada's North won't be necessary after all. The shutdown had been scheduled in response to the global economic recession that began about a year ago. Its shares rose 36 cents to $9.52.