Canada's main stock market in Toronto secured gains on Tuesday as resource stocks inched higher while energy stocks seesawed despite a rally in crude oil prices.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/ TSX Composite Index added 48.48 points, or 0.37 percent, to 13,082.86 points, as the gains driven by mining shares offset the slump in financial sector. Seven of TSX's eight main sectors rose.
The metal & mining sector continued to lead the gainers by 4.14 percent after the latest national inflation data released by Statistics Canada Friday indicated that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.4 percent in the 12 months to November.
Afternoon session saw a rally after the U.S. Commerce Department announced that the third estimate of real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2 percent in the third quarter of 2015, slightly down from the second estimate of 2.1 percent but above market expectations of 1.5 percent.
Dominion Diamond Corp surged 22.04 percent to 14.01 Canadian dollars. It said it looked forward to having an open dialogue with a group of investors led by Canadian hedge fund K2, who believe that the diamond miner's policies have unduly hurt its share price.
Oando Energy Resources recorded 268.42 percent rise. The most influential movers in morning session on the index were Royal Bank of Canada, which fell 0.8 percent to 73.94 Canadian dollars, and Bank of Montreal which was 1.1 percent lower at 77.82 dollars.
The overall financial services sector fell 0.04 percent. Brookfield Asset Management Inc rose 0.2 percent. Australia's antitrust regulator said it will consider a watered down version of the infrastructure giant's multi-billion dollar bid for freight firm Asciano Ltd, reviving the prospect of a deal.
Canada's federal and provincial financial ministers are considering not raising premiums for the Canada Pension Plan, federal Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said on Monday, despite a Liberal campaign promise to enhance the plan. U.S. crude prices were up 1.65 percent to 36.40 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude price kept falling on Tuesday after it slid to its lowest since mid-2004.
On the currency beat, the Canadian dollar Tuesday inched higher to 0.7175 U.S. dollar, up from Monday's closing at 0.7161 U.S. dollar.
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