TSX rises as tech shares jump ahead of earnings

Canada's main stock index rose on Monday, helped by a jump in technology shares ahead of a busy week of earnings, while investors weighed the prospect of additional US economic stimulus.

At 10:14 a.m. ET (1514 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 57.55 points, or 0.32%, at 17,903.46.

Tech stocks on the index rose 3.5% to a record high.

BlackBerry Ltd jumped 37.7% to the top of the index and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc rose 32.2% after FDA approved its kidney disease drug.

Telus International (Cda) Inc, a subsidiary of wireless carrier Telus Corp., aims to raise as much as $833 million in its initial public offering (IPO), which would give the Vancouver-based company a valuation of nearly $7 billion.

Canadian manufacturing sales in December likely gained 0.6%, led by wood products and transportation equipment, after declining 0.6% in November, Statistics Canada said in a flash estimate released on Monday.

The energy sector dropped 0.6% as US crude prices were up 0.3% a barrel, while Brent crude added 0.3%.

The financials sector slipped 0.3%. The industrials sector rose 0.9%.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.5% as gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,864.7 an ounce.

On the TSX, 118 issues were higher, while 100 issues declined for a 1.18-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 46.03 million shares traded.

Hudbay Minerals Inc fell 4.4%, the most on the TSX. The second biggest decliner was First Quantum Minerals Ltd , down 4.2%.

The most heavily traded shares by volume were Blackberry Ltd, Zenabis Global Inc and Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.

The TSX posted six new 52-week highs and no new lows.

Across all Canadian issues there were 96 new 52-week highs and four new lows, with a total volume of 101.32 million shares.