Oct 17(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index advanced on Thursday, led by cannabis stocks as legalization of marijuana derivatives including edibles and beverages took effect.
* At 9:37 a.m. ET (13:37 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 24.79 points, or 0.15%, at 16,451.97.
* Shares of Cronos Group CRON.TO were the top performer on TSX with a 11% jump, while those of Aurora Cannabis ACB.TO , Canopy Growth Corp WEED.TO , Hexo Corp HEXO.TO rose between 2.4% and 4.2%.
* So-called Cannabis 2.0 comes a year after Canada legalized use of recreational marijuana. Sales are expected to begin in mid-December. Another bright spot was shares of First Quantum Minerals Ltd FM.TO , which jumped 10% after Pangaea Investment Management, backed by one of China's biggest copper producers Jiangxi Copper 600362.SS 0358.HK , raised its stake in the Canadian miner to 10.8%.
* Eight of the index's 11 major sectors were higher, led by a 3% jump in the healthcare sector .GSPTTHC .
* The energy sector .SPTTEN dropped 0.2% as U.S. crude CLc1 prices were down 0.8% a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 lost 0.6%. O/R
* The materials sector .GSPTTMT , which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.8%. GOL/ MET/L
* On the TSX, 147 issues were higher, while 73 issues declined for a 2.01-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 12.26 million shares traded.
* Enerplus Corp ERF.TO fell 2.0%, the most on the TSX. The second biggest decliner was Ag Growth International Inc AFN.TO , down 1.8%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were of Aurora Cannabis, Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO , and Toscana Energy Income Corp TEI.TO .
* The TSX posted one new 52-week high and one new low.
* Across all Canadian issues there were five new 52-week highs and seven new lows, with total volume of 19.85 million shares.