(New throughout, updates prices and market activity to close,
adds analyst comments)
* TSX ends up 75.99 points, or 0.54 percent, at 14,077.36
* Gain breaks 7-day slump; 9 of 10 main groups rise
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, July 28 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index broke
a seven-day slump on Tuesday as investors picked through
earnings reports for glimmers of hope and resource stocks
bounced off recent lows.
The energy sector has lost more than a quarter of its value
since a peak in mid-April. It rose 2 percent on the day, as oil
prices stabilized after a four-day slide. O/R
Still, enthusiasm was in short supply.
"I don't think funds are aggressively buying or selling
here," said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall,
MacDougall & MacTier. "It's hard to get a sense of direction.
Because we've come down a fair bit a lot of the bad news is
priced into these stocks, the energy and the mining companies."
Cenovus Energy Inc CVE.TO gained 5.9 percent to C$18.26
and Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO added 1.4 percent to C$33.18.
Husky Energy Inc HSE.TO jumped 4.2 percent to C$23.52 after
its quarterly report. ID:nMKW5Y5MFa
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended up 75.99 points, or 0.54 percent, at 14,077.36.
It is down more than 5 percent in the past month.
"The trend still appears to be more on the downside,"
Nakamoto said.
BlackBerry Ltd BB.TO gained 6 percent to C$10.07 after
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) upgraded the stock of the smartphone pioneer.
The Chinese equities rout of the past week has exposed
resource companies to the prospect of diminishing demand from
the world's second largest economy. ID:nL3N1081IT
"Weaker economic numbers out of China and other emerging
market countries don't portend well for the commodity complex,
which is what Canada is based on," said Manash Goswami, a
portfolio manager at First Asset Investment Management.
Goswami said quarterly corporate earnings have so far been
adequate but not outstanding.
"Companies are cost-cutting and they are managing their way
through this, but we haven't seen robust top-line growth," he
said.
Shares in WestJet Airlines Ltd WJA.TO fell 3.7 percent to
C$21.83 even though the company reported a 19 percent rise in
profit, helped by lower fuel costs and new
routes. ID:nL3N1083RL
Home Capital Group Inc HCG.TO fell 6.4 percent to C$27.30.
The alternative lender said after the close on Monday that board
member James Baille, a former chairman of the Ontario Securities
Commission, had resigned.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd FM.TO lost 4.3 percent to
C$11.06. Production at its Zambian mines was hit by power cuts.
ID:nL3N1082Y3
($1=$1.30 Canadian)