Rally Fizzles But TSX Nudges Higher -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks eked out modest gains Wednesday as investors found value in beaten down miners and energy producers.

Edging up from 3-month lows, the S&P/TSX Composite Index added 15.12 points, or 0.12 percent, to 12,937.59. However, the index finished well off its early highs.

Even with crude oil prices falling to fresh 6-year lows, the Energy Index was up 0.5 percent.

US oil closed 35 cents lower, or 0.93%, at $37.16 a barrel.

American distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil, surged up 5 million barrels last week amid unseasonably warm weather in much of the U.S.

The Diversified Metals and Mining Index added 3.8 percent, clawing back some of this month's staggering losses.

In corporate news, Toronto-Dominion Bank's (TD.TO) previously announced repurchase for cancellation of up to 9.5 million of its common shares has received approval from regulators. Shares rose 1.2 percent.

Laurentian Bank Of Canada (LB.TO) raised its dividend by two cents to C$0.58 per share. The stock dropped 3.6 percent.

Dollarama (DOL.TO) reported third quarter earnings rose 41.8% on a big sales increase. Shares plunged 7.2 percent.