TSX rises as miners rally on higher gold prices
- Bullion prices rose more than 1% to a near two-week high after the US central bank's statement
- Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 89.86 points, or 0.44%, at 20,320.26
Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, as miners tracked gold prices higher after the US Federal Reserve doused prospects of an increase in lending rates.
Bullion prices rose more than 1% to a near two-week high after the US central bank's statement.
Fed Chair Powell said the US job market still had "some ground to cover" before it would be time to pull back from the economic support the central bank put in place in 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
At 9:51 a.m. ET (1351 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 89.86 points, or 0.44%, at 20,320.26.
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Seven of the index's 11 major sectors were higher, led by the materials sector - which includes precious and base metals miners. It added 2.1%.
Endeavour Silver and Kirkland Lake Gold were the top percentage gainers on the subindex, rising 5.5% each.
The energy sector climbed 1.2% as US crude prices were up 0.6% a barrel, while Brent crude added 0.6%.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, writing in a column for the Financial Post newspaper, said Canadians can be confident that the cost of living will not rise out of control as the economy reopens from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Among earnings reports, oil and gas producer Cenovus Energy Inc added 2.5% as it raised its full-year production forecast and posted a near 2% rise in second quarter profit.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd gained 1.8% after the railroad operator topped quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday.
On the TSX, 158 issues were higher, while 70 issues declined for a 2.26-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 21.93 million shares traded.
Lundin Mining fell 7.0%, the most on the TSX, followed by shares in Real Matters Inc, down 5.3%.
The most heavily traded shares by volume were Lundin Mining, down 7%; Suncor Energy, down 0.3% and Cenovus Energy, up 2.4%.
The TSX posted no new 52-week high and no new low.
Across all Canadian issues, there were 32 new 52-week highs and three new lows, with total volume of 36.37 million shares.
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