TSX Ends Higher On Mining, Energy Stocks -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks ended higher on Friday, driven by rising metals & mining stocks as metal prices jumped and as well on energy stocks boosted by a rebound in commodity prices.

Markets in the United States ended on a positive note, with all major averages ending higher for the session as well as the week, after turning in a mixed performance in the previous session. The strength on Wall Street was due partly to weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar.

The weak dollar also helped drive commodities prices higher, leading to considerable strength among resource stocks.

Markets in Europe also ended higher, due mainly on some optimism for a Greek deal, with Athens reportedly working to craft a new plan for economic reforms. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other key leaders met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the sidelines of the two-day EU summit on Thursday night. Merkel reportedly said no disbursement of funds will be made unless Athens implements budget measures. Merkel is set to meet Tsipras again in Berlin on Monday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Friday at 14,941.55, up 67.62 points or 0.45 percent. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,998.03 and a low of 14,913.86.

On Thursday, the index closed down 88.31 points or 0.59 percent, at 14,873.93. The index scaled an intraday high of 14,964.18 and a low of 14,817.49.

The Diversified Metals & Mining Index surged 6.14 percent, as First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.TO) soared 10.45 percent, Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO) moved up 5.18 percent, and Teck Resources Limited (TCK-B.TO) climbed 7.10 percent.

Sherritt International Corp. (S.TO) gained 4.85 percent and Capstone Mining (CS.TO) surged 12.82 percent.

Crude oil lower ended sharply higher as the dollar tumbled against a basket of major currencies, under pressure from the Fed's statement regarding rate hikes, notwithstanding the supply glut and the likelihood of global stockpiles rising further.

The Energy Index gained 1.03 percent, with U.S. crude oil futures for April delivery, jumping $1.76 or 4 percent to settle at $45.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for May delivery, the most actively traded contract, jumped $1.04 or 2.3 percent to settle at $46.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Among energy stocks, Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COS.TO) jumped 6.37 percent, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO) moved up 0.11 percent, and Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ.TO) gained 1.33 percent.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO) added 1.99 percent, while Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) gained 1.11 percent.

Encana Corp. (ECA.TO) added 0.87 percent, after completing its offering of 85,616,500 common shares at a price of C$14.60 per share.

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE.TO) climbed 11.35 percent, after receiving approval from the Brazilian Securities Commission and the Brazilian Stock Exchange to de-list its Brazilian depositary receipts.

Gold futures ended sharply higher, as the dollar tumbled following the Federal Reserve's take on interest rate hikes. Metals rallied in the aftermath of Wednesday's murky Federal Reserve statement. The Fed removed its promise to be "patient" on interest rate hikes, but then downgraded its assessment of the U.S. economy and signaled tightening would not occur until the second half of the year.

The Gold Index gained 1.74 percent, with gold for April delivery jumping $15.60 or 1.3 percent to settle at $1,184.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Among gold stocks, Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) added 2.00 percent, Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) gained 2.74 percent, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO) moved up 0.79 percent, and Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) added 3.38 percent.

Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV.TO) gained 2.81 percent, while Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW.TO) gained 3.04 percent.

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM.TO) gained 3.22 percent, after announcing that Ammar Al-Joundi will be joining the Company as President, effective April 6, 2015.

The Capped Materials Index gained 1.90 percent, mainly on rising gold stocks, with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT.TO) dropping 1.05 percent and Agrium Inc. (AGU.TO) up 0.06 percent.

The heavyweight Financial Index gathered 1.14 percent, with Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) up 0.63 percent, and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) adding 0.83 percent.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) gained 2.00 percent, while Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) added 1.01 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) moved up 1.68 percent, while Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) added 0.99 percent.

The Health Care Index dropped 1.23 percent, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX.TO) down 2.31 percent, Catamaran Corp. (CCT.TO) shed 0.99 percent, and Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) advanced 0.27 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index fell 0.33 percent, with Air Canada (AC.TO) down 0.88 percent.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) added 0.40 percent, after its transportation unit agreed on an out-of-court settlement with Deutsche Bahn regarding various vehicle projects.

AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) tumbled 21.15 percent, after reporting fourth quarter earnings of $0.59 per share, compared to $0.44 per share a year ago.

The Information Technology Index shed 0.93 percent, with BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) diving 3.16 percent, Sierra Wireless, Inc. (SW.TO) up 0.23 percent, and Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) down 1.61 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Index fell 0.48 percent, with Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B.TO) gaining 1.08 percent, TELUS (T.TO) dropping 0.40 percent, and BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) surrendered 1.36 percent.

Baylin Technologies (BYL.TO) plunged 10.26 percent, after it posted a fourth quarter loss of $0.26 per share. The company reported a profit of $0.02 per share last year.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that Canadian retail sales plunged 1.7 percent to C$41.4 billion in January. This was worse than expectations for 0.8 percent decline, following the 2.0 percent fall in December.

Excluding auto-sales, retail sales were down by 1.8 percent on month, far weaker than the 0.5 decrease predicted by economists. The core retail sales fell by 2.3 percent in December.

Separate data showed that Canada's inflation improved 1.0 percent on year in February. The reading matched expectations and was unchanged from January's estimate.

Core inflation slowed to 2.1 percent on an annual basis, from 2.2 percent in December. The index came in line with forecasts.

In other economic news, eurozone current account surplus in January grew from a year ago, as trade surplus and primary income rose sharply, data from the European Central Bank revealed Friday. The current account surplus rose to EUR 29.4 billion from EUR 18.1 billion a year ago. In December, the surplus was EUR 22.5 billion.

A measure of turning points in the German economy in coming months grew at a slower rate in January, data from the Conference Board showed Friday. The leading economic index for Germany rose 0.4 percent monthly after a 0.8 percent climb in the previous month. In the six months to January, the index added 0.3 points, moving back into positive territory for the first time since June 2014.

Germany's producer prices dropped more-than-expected in February, figures from Destatis showed Friday. The producer price index fell 2.1 percent year-over-year in February, exceeding economists' expectations for a 2.0 percent drop.

The U.K. budget deficit showed its smallest budget deficit for February since 2008 on robust income tax receipts suggesting that the government is on the course to achieve its budget targets. Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks declined by GBP 3.5 billion to GBP 6.9 billion in February, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. It was forecast to fall to GBP 8.4 billion.

The majority of the households in the UK perceived that the value of their houses increased in March, after moderating in the previous month, results of a survey conducted by Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, or HPSI, rose to 57.5 in March from 56.5 in February. This marked the twenty-fourth consecutive month of the index remaining above 50.