Toronto's main stock index pushed higher on Friday in sparse New Year's Eve trade, as strong metal prices and a rally by miners kept the market on track for its best December in five years and double-digit growth in 2010. The index was up 3.8 percent for the month and 14.4 percent for the year, touching its highest level since August 2008 in the previous session.
On the day, materials gained 0.7 percent as copper capped 2010 with a run of records and the price of gold notched its 10th annual gain. Spot silver also had a standout year, the second best performer among precious metals after palladium. Silver Wheaton jumped 3 percent to C$38.98, while Barrick Gold Corp firmed almost 1 percent to C$53.12 and Teck Resources rallied 1.4 percent to C$61.79. Financials ended up 0.1 percent, but mostly offset by energy shares which closed 0.1 percent down.
In individual company news, Baffinland Iron Mines climbed 3.6 percent to C$1.43 after steel giant ArcelorMittal raised its bid to C$550 million, or C$1.40 a share, in pursuit of the miner's vast undeveloped iron ore deposit in the Arctic. Shares of Imax Corp surged 4.3 percent to C$28.04 on a report that Sony Corp or Walt Disney might be interested taking it over. The Toronto Stock Exchange's composite index finished the last trading day of the year up 8.81 points, or 0.07 percent, at 13,443.22. The index is up more than 20 percent from lows seen in February and July.
"Everyone's gotten a lot more comfortable that the global economy really is in a sustained rebound," said Kate Warne, Canadian market strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, Missouri. "It's not too surprising that commodities led the way as growth expectations really ratcheted up in the last few months." The year's decent performance was better than many had expected.
Last year the TSX rebounded from one of its worst years ever in 2008, rising 31 percent - its strongest performance since 1979. Looking to 2011, observers are optimistic that solid global growth and corporate earnings will deliver a healthy market, but expect more volatility.
Joe Ismail, technical analyst at Maison Placements Canada in Edmonton, Alberta, said the next critical resistance level to breach is around 13,800 - an area last seen in mid-2008, when the 10-week and 40-week moving averages crossed. He said that move would establish a new bullish trend in the market that would make way for an all-time high for the TSX in the range of 15,500 to 16,000 points in the second half of next year. Risks are plentiful however - from monetary tightening in emerging markets to sovereign debt worries in the euro zone and a depleting arsenal of stimulus measures in the United States.
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