TORONTO: Canada's main stock index clawed its way into positive territory on Thursday as modest gains in the influential financial group helped offset see-sawing energy and materials stocks.
At 10:27 a.m. ET (1427 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 10.2 points, or 0.06 percent, to 15,792.36. Of the index's 10 main groups, six were in negative territory.
The losses were offset by shallow, but influential, gains among bank stocks. Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.7 percent to C$100.76 and the financials group gained 0.3 percent.
Rogers Communications Inc was among the biggest drags on the index, sliding 0.7 percent to C$66.39 as it signed up fewer internet customers than expected. The decline also comes after shares have rallied more than 6 percent over the last three weeks.
The overall telecoms group retreated 0.2 percent.
Autoparts maker Magna International fell 1.5 percent to C$67.59, reversing the previous day's gains after it said it was forming an electrified powertrain joint venture in China. The fall also come amid concerns over the uncertain future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its potential impact on the auto industry.
The energy group retreated 0.4 percent as the price of oil fell, with Encana Corp down 1.4 percent to C$14.49. US crude prices were down 1.2 percent to $51.42 a barrel.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, was nearly flat, with Wheaton Precious Metals Corp climbing 2.1 percent to C$25.45 and Teck Resources slipping 0.7 percent to C$27.41.
The price of gold rebounded from one-week lows as a rally in equities and the US dollar ran out of steam. Copper prices fell for a third straight day as investors took profits after prices rallied above $7,000 a tonne for the first time since September 2014 earlier this week, and after data showed economic growth in China was in line was expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the TSX by 152 to 90, for a 1.69-to-1 ratio on the downside.
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