(Adds strategist comment, update prices to close)
* TSX ends up 102.04 points, or 0.72 percent, at 14,361.88
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups rise
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, July 11 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose
on Monday, led by banking and consumer shares as investors
cheered U.S. economic strength, Japan's latest fiscal stimulus,
and Britain settling on a new leader following last month's vote
to leave the European Union.
The index is less than 90 points shy of the 14,450 level it
peaked at in early June, and breaching that would put it at its
highest since August last year.
The U.S. S&P 500 index meanwhile closed at a record high, on
the back of Friday's blockbuster U.S. jobs data.
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But with 31 Canadian stocks touching fresh 52-week highs and
earnings and domestic economic growth not keeping up, some
investment managers are taking a cautious view.
"We are preaching to our clients that at this point in the
cycle, given valuations and earnings growth, that a conservative
allocation within fixed income to equity is prudent at this
time," said Macan Nia, director for capital markets and strategy
at Manulife Investments.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed up 102.04 points, or 0.72 percent, at
14,361.88. Eight of its 10 main sectors gained, led by its
heavyweight financial sector.
It hit 14,415.48 in earlier trade, within striking distance
of its highest level so far this year of 14,450.91, notched on
June 8.
The TSX's financials group, which accounts for 35 percent of
the index's weight, gained 0.8 percent.
Consumer staple stocks rose 1.7 percent and consumer
discretionary names added 1.6 percent.
Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO rose 1.0 percent to C$78.11,
Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO advanced 0.8 percent to C$55.53
and Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO added 0.9 percent to C$63.89.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals
miners and fertilizer companies, added 1.1 percent.
The energy group retreated 0.3 percent, with Canadian
Natural Resources CNQ.TO down 0.9 percent to C$39.93, as crude
hit a 2-month low on glut fears. O/R
Deeply discounted prices for heavy crude from the heart of
Alberta's oil sands look set to sink further, thanks to hundreds
of thousands of barrels of new supply that will have difficulty
finding space in crowded pipelines, traders say.
Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters News, advanced
2.1 percent to C$54.40 after it said it would sell its
intellectual property and science business for $3.55 billion.
Meanwhile, shares in Mitel Networks Corp MNW.TO fell 1.3
percent to C$9.25 after its deal to buy Polycom Inc was thwarted
by a rival bid.