(Adds strategist comment, details; updates prices to close)
* TSX ends up 35.83 points, or 0.28 percent, at 13,017.93
* Six of the TSX's 10 main groups fall
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, March 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose
for a fifth straight session on Wednesday, hitting its highest
point this year as gains for materials and energy stocks offset
losses for financial and consumer names and railways.
Oil was steady, gold rebounded and several industrial metals
also benefited from a "risk-on" attitude in financial markets
that swept global shares and bond yields higher.
"You're seeing some of the big risk factors dissipate, crude
oil come back, the Chinese markets stabilize," said Elvis
Picardo, strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver.
"It helps the TSX because it's so leveraged to global growth
expectations," he said.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended up 35.83 points, or 0.28 percent, at 13,017.93.
It was last above 13,000 on the last day of 2015.
Energy stocks gained 2.1 percent and the materials sector,
which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer
companies, surged 3.4 percent, while six of the index's 10 main
groups fell.
Picardo said the index is approaching fair value as it tries
to break above its 100-day moving average around 13,000.
"Does it pull back? Does it go further up from here? It's
one of those inflection points that's a little hard to call," he
said, suggesting further gains in oil and other commodity prices
would be needed to keep resource stocks rising.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO , one of the
country's largest energy companies, jumped 4.8 percent to
C$30.17.
Shares of Potash Corp POT.TO rose 5.7 percent to C$24.49,
while First Quantum Minerals FM.TO surged 27.6 percent to
C$6.62 and Teck Resources Ltd TCKb.TO jumped 19.5 percent to
C$9.51. Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO gained 2.3 percent to
C$18.23.
The most influential weights on the index included Canadian
National Railway CNR.TO , down 1.9 percent at C$77.65, and
Brookfield Asset Management BAMa.TO , which slipped 2.7 percent
to C$41.98.
The financials group fell 0.4 percent, while industrials
lost 0.7 percent.
Consumer staple stocks also dragged. Loblaw Companies Ltd
L.TO fell 1 percent to C$69.45, while Metro Inc MRU.TO was
down 1.4 percent at C$43.04.
Label and packaging maker CCL Industries Inc CCLb.TO rose
11.8 percent to C$234.17 following news it is buying U.S.-based
Checkpoint Systems Inc CKP.N for about $422 million.