(Adds portfolio manager comment, updates prices to close)
* TSX ends up 115.79 points, or 0.81 percent, at 14,477.67
* Nine of the TSX's 10 main groups rise
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, July 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index
notched its highest close in almost a year on Tuesday, as shares
of oil and gas producers surged along with crude and banking and
industrial stocks rallied as risk aversion faded.
Energy shares jumped 3.2 percent and financials added 1.2
percent, while gold miners were the biggest drags on the index.
Financial stocks account for 35 percent of the index's
weight, while energy stocks constitute 20 percent.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed up 115.79 points, or 0.81 percent, at
14,477.67, its highest close since Aug. 5 last year.
The gains echoed record highs on Wall Street, partly fueled
by Alcoa's AA.N getting the U.S. earnings season off to a
better-than-expected start. .N
Still, Canada's benchmark stock index will likely notch only
minor gains by year-end, a Reuters poll found.
Investors were in a broadly bullish mood. Political tensions
eased in Britain with agreement on a new leader to navigate the
country's European Union exit, and a weekend election victory by
Japan's ruling coalition paved the way for more stimulus there.
Britain's exit from the European Union "is going to be like
the Fed all over again," said John Kinsey, portfolio manager at
Caldwell Securities, referring to the U.S. central bank's talk
of multiple rate hikes that have not come to pass. "It's going
to go on and on and on."
Oil surged 5 percent as investors covered short positions
and a technical rebound helped lift the market off two-month
lows. O/R
Canadian Natural Resources CNQ.TO gained 3.7 percent to
C$41.41, Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO added 2.6 percent to C$37.23,
and Cenovus Energy CVE.TO rose 4.4 percent to C$18.73.
Shares in Northland Power NPI.TO jumped 6.6 percent to
C$24.22 after the green energy company said it was considering
its strategic options as it eyes more and larger opportunities.
Canadian National Railway Co CNR.TO added 2.2 percent to
C$79.79, and rival Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd CP.TO rose 2
percent to C$177.94. Industrials rose 1.2 percent.
The most influential drags on the index were its gold
miners, which declined with a sharp fall in the price of gold as
investors turned to riskier assets. GOL/
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO sagged 7 percent to C$26.89,
Goldcorp Inc G.TO fell 3.5 percent to C$25.39, and
Franco-Nevada Corp FNV.TO declined 4.8 percent to C$98.68.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, lost 2.5 percent. It was the
only one of the index's 10 main sectors to finish in the red.