(Adds investment strategist comment, Fed minutes, updates
prices to close)
* TSX ends up 110.31 points, or 0.8 pct, to 13,978.66
* Six of the TSX's 10 main groups rise
By Leah Schnurr
OTTAWA, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index extended
its rally to a fifth consecutive day on Thursday, lifted by
solid gains in energy shares as oil prices hit a three-month
high.
Momentum on Bay Street picked up in the afternoon, helped by
minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve that showed the central
bank thought the economy was close to warranting an interest
rate hike in September but policymakers decided to wait.
But energy stocks provided the biggest lift, with the sector
.SPTTEN up 3.4 percent as the price of oil was lifted by a
forecast that prices would climb to $75 a barrel over the next
two years. ID:nL1N1281EF
Crude prices CLc1 settled up $1.62 at $49.43 a barrel.
Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO pulled the most weight on the positive
side, climbing 4.8 percent to C$37.16, while Canadian Natural
Resources CNQ.TO rose 3 percent to C$32.17.
"Oil's up, and the momentum's definitely being generated by
the oil sector," said Allan Small, a senior investment advisor
at HollisWealth.
"The market over the last bunch of weeks now seems to be
moving in lock-step with the oil markets."
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE ended up 110.31 points, or 0.8 percent, at 13,978.66.
It was the longest back-to-back winning streak the index has
seen since late July into early August. Of the index's 10 main
groups, six sectors rose.
The heavily weighted financial stocks were up moderately,
led by Brookfield Asset Management 's BAMa.TO 0.8 percent gain
to C$43.05. Financials have gained more than 4 percent in the
last four sessions.
"The banks have really bounced back and I think people just
wanted to see that the banks were not falling due to low oil and
so forth," said Small. "I think the banks have shown that in the
last quarter, it was a fantastic quarter right across the
board."
Canadian National Railway CNR.TO , which had its price
target raised by at least one analyst, was another major
positive gainer, advancing 2.1 percent to C$80.03. The overall
industrials sector .GSPTTIN added 1.5 percent.
First Quantum Minerals FM.TO fell 3.3 percent to C$8.56,
while the overall materials group, home to miners and other
resource names, slid 0.6 percent. MET/L GOL/