(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose for the first time in four days driven by miners and energy producers as crude advanced to near $50 a barrel and the recent plunge in gold prices leveled off.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 14,610.58 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, recovering from a three-day slide that wiped out 1.6 percent of its value. The index is up 12 percent this year, making it the third-best performing developed market equity index in the world just behind New Zealand and the U.K.
Canadian exports rose 0.6 percent in August, their third straight monthly gain. And the nation posted a smaller-than-expected trade deficit.
Gold was essentially flat at around $1,270 an ounce in New York, after falling more than 3 percent on Tuesday, as the Federal Reserve appears on track to raise interest rates in December. Oil rose 2.3 percent to settle at $49.73 a barrel in New York.
Canadian stock valuations remain 15 percent higher than their U.S. peers, with the S&P/TSX carrying a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3 compared with 20.3 for the the S&P 500 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Barrick Gold Corp., the world's largest gold producer, added 3.4 percent after plunging the most in more than a year Tuesday. Raw-materials producers rose 0.8 percent following the worst one-day slide in three years. The gauge retreated 9.8 percent over the preceding four days.
Energy producers jumped 1.4 percent, the biggest gain among seven of 11 industries in the S&P/TSX, led by Suncor Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
Raw-materials and energy producers remain the top-performing industries in Canada this year, fueling a rebound in the wider gauge even as a resurgent first half has sputtered somewhat in the second. The S&P/TSX Materials Index is up 37 percent and set to halt its longest yearly losing streak since 1988. Energy producers are second with a 25 percent gain.
First National Financial Corp. slumped 9.9 percent for a third day of losses. The alternative lender has plunged 19 percent during its current slide, after Finance Minister Bill Morneau introduced measures this week to cool housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver and curb the rise in household debt. Mortgage insurer Genworth MI Canada Inc. lost 3.2 percent, falling to the lowest close since March.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Lam in Toronto at elam87@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Eric J. Weiner
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
