RIM, oils power Toronto stock index up

The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index spiked more than 190 points on Friday as higher oil prices and a blockbuster earnings report from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd drove the rally. The S&P/TSX composite index gained 190.90 points, or 1.39 percent, to close at 13,906.57.
"Today's been a day where you've got a confluence of positive circumstances for the TSX," said Elvis Picardo, investment strategist at Northern Securities Inc in Vancouver. "Much of the gain today has been on account of RIM ... but apart from that we've got oil trading over $70 per barrel, so that's been very positive for energy stocks."
All of the index's 10 main groups finished higher, including the key energy and materials sectors, which rose 1.31 percent and 1.29 percent respectively. The S&P/TSX 60 index of large Canadian companies closed 13.92 points higher at 799.70.
It was the last trading session of the second quarter of the year. The index is up about 6.1 percent since the end of March. Friday's rally was headlined by RIM, which gained C$39.18, or 22.4 percent, to close at C$214.40. The company's first-quarter results beat expectations, as did its rosy outlook for the second quarter, despite fears of new US competition from Apple Inc's iPhone.
US oil came close to cresting $71 as investors kept their eyes on falling gasoline and crude stocks in key parts of the United States. This lifted energy issues including Suncor Energy, which rose C$2.19, or 2.3 percent, to close at C$95.96. Petro-Canada rose C$1.42, or 2.6 percent, to C$56.75.
CCS Income Trust gained C$7.91, or 21 percent, to close at C$45.80 after its founder and a private equity group launched a take-over bid for the oilfield and industrial waste handler worth C$3.5 billion ($3.3 billion).
Aside from energy, rising bond yields, which have dampened the stock market, turned down "substantially" on Friday because of data that showed Canadian economic growth stalled unexpectedly in April, Picardo said.
However, he also cited rising rates and slowing economic growth, which could drag down corporate earnings as areas of concern in the coming months. "My take continues to be that we're going to be in for some rough times, simply because there has been so much complacency out there in the market," Picardo said. "Investors seem to be paying little heed to some of the headwinds that have been building up in recent months."
Adrian Mastracci, portfolio manager at KCM Wealth Management Inc, said a rally in commodities and energy should continue into the second half of 2007 if consumer spending remains robust. "I think we still have a bull market because we keep buying the products," he said. "The consumer is still buying out there, and as long as that consumer is buying, China will be producing and therefore we will be shipping stuff over to them."
In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average finished down 13.66 points, or 0.1 percent, at 13,408.62. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 5.1 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 2,603.23.