Dec 16 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose for the third straight day on Monday after the United States and China struck a preliminary trade deal, and as shares of cinema operator Cineplex surged after a $1.65 billion buyout deal.
* U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade negotiator praised a "phase one" U.S.-China trade deal which is expected to nearly double U.S. exports to China over the next two years, while China remained cautious ahead of the signing of the agreement. Cineplex's shares CGX.TO soared 41%, leading gainers on the TSX, after British peer Cineworld CINE.L said it would buy the company as it looks to tackle increasing competition from online streaming services. At 9:44 a.m. ET (1444 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX Composite index .GSPTSE was up 39.93 points, or 0.23%, at 17,043.06.
* Six of the index's 11 major sectors were higher, led by the energy sector .SPTTEN , which climbed 0.7% as oil prices held near three-month highs on trade optimism.
* U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 0.1% a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 added 0.4%. O/R
* On the TSX, 153 issues were higher, while 72 issues declined for a 2.13-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 18.68 million shares traded.
* Hexo Corp HEXO.TO fell 5.4%, the most on the TSX, after the cannabis producer reported quarterly results.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were shares of Largo Resources LGO.TO , Touchstone Exploration Inc TXP.TO , and Aurora Cannabis ACB.TO .
* The TSX posted nine new 52-week highs and no new low.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 92 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, with total volume of 45.84 million shares.