Canada's main stock index closes higher on US data

Canada's main stock index Friday closed slightly higher at 13,399.60 points as data showed the U.S. economy advanced much better than expected during the third quarter. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 0.06 percent after it strengthened 84.77 points to greet midday trading at 13,476.97, the highest level in recent two weeks. The U.S. economic data boosted the index. According to U.S. Commerce Department figures on Friday, U.S. gross domestic product climbed at an annualized rate of 4.1 percent, the strongest since the final three months of 2011 and up from a previous estimate of 3.6 percent.p The most active gainer could be seen in the info-tech companies with a rise of 2.24 percent. Blackberry, Canada's well-known smartphone maker, soared to 7.74 Canadian dollars (7.28 U.S. dollars) per share, up 16.04 percent, as the company released its third-quarter earnings, saying it finished the quarter with 3.2 billion Canadian dollars in cash and expected the strong cash position to continue in the current quarter. Blackberry's gain was also stimulated by the news that the firm has entered into a five-year strategic partnership with Foxconn to make phones in Indonesia and other fast-growing markets. However, poor sales of its new BlackBerry 10 devices sent revenues tumbling 56 percent from a year ago to 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, which was lower than analyst estimates. The mining sector advanced 1.49 percent. The base metals segment pushed up the index as March copper price was up to 3.31 U.S. dollars a pound. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada's copper producer, increased 3.22 percent to 27.88 Canadian dollars apiece. As Christmas holiday is approaching, the retailer sector advanced with great momentum. Loblaw Companies Ltd., a Canadian food retailer and general merchandise provider, was up 1 percent to 42.59 Canadian dollars. Sears Canada Inc., which is engaged in sales of goods and services, also rose 2.97 percent to 13.18 Canadian dollars. The financial shares, up 0.05 percent, benefited from the Statistics Canada's report released on Friday. According to the federal agency, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9 percent in the last 12 months to November, and November marked the 7th time in the past 13 months that the CPI increased less than 1.0 percent year-on-year. The CPI, which remained below the central bank's target range, indicated the current weak inflation would not result in a rise of benchmark interest rates. Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada's second largest bank, was up 0.23 percent to 98.18 Canadian dollars. Central Fund of Canada Ltd., a Calgary-based closed-end fund, gained 2.03 percent to close at 14.09 Canadian dollars. On the currency front, the Canadian dollar was up at 0.94 U.S. dollars on Friday, compared with 0.9376 U.S. dollars on Thursday.