(Adds strategist comment, market details; updates prices)
* TSX up 152.36 points, or 1.13 percent, at 13,630.67
* Nine of the TSX's 10 main groups higher
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended
higher on Tuesday as gains in copper and oil prices helped boost
shares of mining and energy companies.
Copper prices strengthened as weak Chinese data prompted
bets that Beijing would move to stimulate the world's
second-largest economy.
The rebound in the benchmark Canadian index follows a 2.8
percent decline in the previous week, triggered by concerns over
China's economic growth.
The materials group, which includes miners, climbed 1.2
percent, with First Quantum Minerals Ltd FM.TO surging 22.9
percent to C$7.62 and Teck Resources Ltd TCKb.TO advancing 5.9
percent to C$8.64.
Copper added 3.8 percent after the data, which was mostly
negative but showed copper imports holding up. MET/L
The metal has rebounded about 9 percent since touching a
six-year low in late August, largely on fears of a hard landing
in China. ID:nL4N11E380
Still, investors expressed skepticism on the sustainability
of the bounce.
"It's getting to a point where these big swings are getting
normal," said Elvis Picardo, strategist and vice president of
research at Global Securities in Vancouver.
"The markets have been unusually volatile of late," he
added. "It remains to be seen how much these gains are
sustainable."
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed up 152.36 points, or 1.13 percent, at
13,630.67. Nine of its 10 main groups were higher.
The most influential movers on the index included several of
its biggest banks, with Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO rising 2.2
percent to C$72.41 and Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO adding 1.7
percent to C$59.50.
Manulife Financial Corp MFC.TO rose 0.9 percent to C$20.41
and Brookfield Asset Management BAMa.TO advanced 1.3 percent
to C$41.19. The overall financials group, which makes up more
than a third of the overall index weight, climbed 1.4 percent.
Brent crude LCOc1 added 3.6 percent to $49.36. Canadian
Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO rose 1.6 percent to C$27.88.
O/R