(Adds strategist comment, updates prices to close)
* TSX ends up 63.35 points, or 0.47 percent, at 13,545.25
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups rise
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index gained
on Wednesday in choppy trading as financial and consumer stocks
rose but were offset by energy shares plagued by volatile crude
oil prices.
Drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX)
VRX.TO , one of the largest issuers on the index, jumped 4.1
percent to C$308.45 after the company said it had agreed to buy
surgical device maker Synergetics USA Inc SURG.O , its eighth
acquisition this year.
But the index underperformed U.S. markets as the energy
group weighed despite a bounce in oil prices. .N O/R
"There's that cloud that continues to hang over the Canadian
equity space, which is the volatility that still persists in oil
prices," said Shailesh Kshatriya, an associate director for
client strategy at Russell Investments Canada.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended up 63.35 points, or 0.47 percent, at 13,545.25.
Seven of its 10 main groups rose.
Insurer Manulife Financial Corp MFC.TO gained 1.1 percent
to C$20.55 and Brookfield Asset Management BAMa.TO rose 1.2
percent to C$41.16.
The index gyrated as investors digested reports about
China's latest effort to soothe anxiety about the country's
slowing growth and what that means for the global economy.
Chinese markets, which have fluctuated widely in recent
months, are closed on Thursday and Friday.
"Volatility continues to rule the day, both to the upside
and the downside," said Craig Fehr, Canadian market strategist
at Edward Jones in St. Louis. "It partly reflects markets trying
to digest what the bigger trend is in China."
"On-the-fly" policy reactions out of Beijing are
contributing to the dramatic daily swings, Fehr added.
The focus on China, fluctuating commodity prices and
uncertainty around the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on
interest rates will keep markets on edge, he said.
Russell's Kshatriya said North American markets will next
turn to employment data due on Friday and then rate decisions
from the Bank of Canada next week and the Fed a week after.
"Expect a lot of volatility over the next couple of weeks,"
he said.
Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc
ATDb.TO gained 4.6 percent to C$59.30 a day after reporting
robust U.S. growth.
Eleven of the top 20 biggest drags on the index were oil and
gas companies, with Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO off 2.1 percent to
C$35.00 and the overall group down 1 percent.
Fehr said the market's recent declines made for a good
buying opportunity for investors, but those eyeing energy or
materials stocks needed to be patient.