Canadian stocks rally on stronger US economy outlook

The Canadian stock market's main index advanced Thursday as stronger U.S. economic data lifted the market sentiment and pushed most commodity-based sectors up. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 53.88 points, or 0.45 percent, to close at 12,005.78, while the S&P/TSX Composite Venture Index kept steady at 860.24. Newly released figures showed the economy in the United States remained on a moderate growth path, boosting Canada's market mood on Thursday. The U.S. Commerce Department said the consumer spending rebounded in May and increased 0.3 percent from a 0.3 percent-drop in April. Another report from the country's Labor Department showed that new applications for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 346,000 last week. Despite the positive consuming and job data, many investors still say the figures are not good enough for the Fed to rush into stimulus tapering. Seven of eight sectors on the main index for the Toronto Stock Exchange moved higher. Metals and mining sector rose 2.39 percent, with gold stocks climbing with bullion prices. Barrick Gold increased 0.45 percent to 15.57 Canadian dollars per share. Kinross Gold Corporation improved by 1.46 percent to 4.86 Canadian dollars per share. Despite Thursday's gain, gold shares were still down more than 3 percent on the Toronto market so far this year. Energy sector was up 0.3 percent as Suncor Energy advanced 1. 31 percent to 30.84 Canadian dollars per share. The tech sector was also supportive, but shares in BlackBerry shed 3.71 percent to 15.05 Canadian dollars apiece, a day before the smartphone maker releases its quarterly earnings. At closing, the Canadian dollar stayed unchanged at 0.9543 U.S. dollars at 5 p.m. local time (2100 GMT).