TSX edges higher on mining boost, tracks fourth straight week of gains

TORONTO: Canada's main stock index edged higher on Friday, lifted by mining shares, and was set to deliver its fourth straight weekly gain on the back of a strong batch of corporate earnings.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 1.1% as gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,762.1 an ounce.

At 9:39 a.m. ET (13:39 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 10.3 points, or 0.05%, at 20,530.9.

Producer prices in Canada most likely rose by 0.1% in July from June, led mainly by higher prices for energy and petroleum products, and chemicals and chemical products, Statistics Canada said. The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Pretium Resources Inc, which jumped 17.6% after the miner reported upbeat second-quarter results.

Its gains were followed by Lithium Americas Corp, which rose 5.3% after two brokerages lifted price targets on the lithium miner's stock.The energy sector dropped 0.6% as US crude prices were down 0.1% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.2%.

The financials sector gained 0.1%. The industrials sector fell 0.1%.

On the TSX, 130 issues were higher, while 91 issues declined for a 1.43-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 16.85 million shares traded.