TSX edges higher as mining stocks rebound

Canada’s main stock index posted its biggest decline in more than eight weeks on Wednesday as lower metal and oil prices sent shares of resource companies tumbling.

Bank of Montreal rose 2.2 percent to C$86.27.

BMO’s earnings made the market optimistic about the earnings of other banks that are due to report, said Paul Hand, managing director at RBC Capital Markets.

Energy stocks dipped 0.1 per cent as oil fell.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, the S&P/TSX index was ahead by a mere 4.48 points at 14,630.72.

The loonie also slipped, down 0.24 of a cent to 77.22 cents US.

On Tuesday, the TSX had touched a one-week high at 14,796.56.

“The longer-term trend sure feels like it’s up at the moment”, he added. Six of the index’s 10 main groups ended higher.

Goldcorp Inc rose 1.9 percent to C$21.11, but after having hit a four-month low earlier in the session at C$20.36.

On the TSX, the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 2.9 per cent.

Gold fell to US$1,324.00 an ounce.

Barrick Gold was the biggest weight on the index, slumping 9.4 per cent to $23.49 in its biggest drop since July of previous year.