(Adds portfolio manager quotes, details on Shaw, Valeant and
Constellation Software, updates prices)
* TSX closes up 88.85 points, or 0.68 percent, at 13,212.50
* Index makes new 2016 high, advances 3.2 percent for the
week
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups were higher
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, March 4 (Reuters) - Canada's benchmark stock index
rose to a new high for 2016 on Friday, scoring a 3.2 percent
weekly gain as resource stocks tracked commodity prices higher
and after data showed a better-than-expected U.S. jobs gain and
record Canadian exports.
Energy stocks climbed nearly 3 percent, while the materials
group, which includes precious and base metals miners and
fertilizer companies, added 0.2 percent after some gains were
pared.
Resource stocks are "on fire" after the
stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data, said Julie Brough, vice
president at Morgan Meighen & Associates.
Some of the stocks were so "wiped out" it takes very little
positive news to give them a boost, she added.
The most influential movers on the index included Canadian
Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO , which rose 4.7 percent to
C$34.40, while Enbridge Inc ENB.TO added 3.4 percent to
C$48.91.
U.S. crude CLc1 prices settled nearly 4 percent higher at
$35.92 a barrel.
Goldcorp Inc G.TO rose 0.7 percent to C$20.17 after the
price of gold XAU= reached a 13-month high in a seesaw session
before ending near flat. GOL/
Copper prices CMCU3 climbed to their highest in four
months together with broader strength for industrial metals.
MET/L
Shares of Shaw Communications Inc SJRb.TO advanced 0.9
percent to C$23.43. Ontario's securities regulator is weighing
whether a deal to sell its media assets to related entity Corus
Entertainment Inc CJRb.TO requires further study.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE closed up 88.85 points, or 0.68 percent, at 13,212.5.
Seven of the index's 10 main groups ended higher.
It was the seventh straight winning session for the index,
while it touched its highest since Dec. 29 at 13,281.83.
The index had hit an almost 3-1/2-year low in January at
11,531.22.
It "overshot on the downside" as investors worried about a
global recession, said Brough. "We are having a period where
growth is slow, which is a big difference than having a
contraction."
Industrials rose 1.4 percent, while the financials group was
up 0.6 percent.
The sectors that dragged on the index were healthcare,
information technology and consumer staples, which is seen as a
defensive sector.
The shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX)
VRX.TO fell 6.1 percent to C$81.64, while Constellation
Software Inc CSU.TO was down 5.1 percent at $530.78.
Canada posted a smaller-than-expected trade deficit in
January. Exports reached a record C$46.0 billion, while export
volumes surged 3.6 percent.