Canadian stocks gained the most since August as oil and metals prices rallied on the prospect of a bailout for Ireland and Walter Energy Inc. offered to buy Vancouver-based Western Coal Corp.
The S&P TSX Composite Index closed up 212.18 points, or 1.7%, to 12,870.01.
Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest oil and gas producer, jumped 3.8% as oil rebounded from a four-week low. Western Coal, which mines in Canada and the U.S., surged 45% after Tampa, Florida-based Walter Energy offered a bid it valued at $3.3 billion. Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, rose 1.9 percent as the S&P/TSX Banks Index climbed the most in 12 weeks.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.31 of a cent to 97.9 cents U.S.
The index has advanced for two straight days, after declining 3.5% on Nov. 8 on concerns over European budget deficits and the possibility of further tightening of credit by China’s central bank.
Suncor gained 3.8% to $34.85, ending a five-day streak of losses. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second- largest energy company by market value, advanced 3% to $39.96.
Celtic Exploration Ltd., which produces oil and gas in Alberta, increased 4.1% to $16.18 after Brian Kristjansen, an analyst at Canaccord Financial Inc., raised his rating on the shares to "buy" from "hold." Yesterday, Celtic soared 19% after announcing drilling results.
Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., which produces oil and gas in Colombia, gained 5.6% to $31.25 after announcing that two processing facilities of a joint venture have begun operations.
Western Coal rallied 45% to $10.71 after Walter Energy offered $11.50 in cash and stock for the company. Western Coal said it began exclusive negotiations with the U.S. coal producer. Western Coal jumped as much as 51%, the most in 11 years, to an intraday record $11.15.
Cline Mining Corp., which produces coal in British Columbia, climbed 13% to $2.63 after earlier today touching a 21-year high of $2.89. Grande Cache Coal Corp., which mines in Alberta, surged 13% to $8.64.
Base-metals producers rose as all of the major industrial raw materials traded on the London Metal Exchange gained.
Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest base-metals and coal producer, gained 3.2% to $50.26.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the country’s second-biggest publicly traded copper producer, advanced 4.7% to $90.997 after UBS AG added the stock to its "key call" list. Equinox Minerals Ltd., which mines copper in Africa, increased 5.3% to $5.77.
All eight S&P/TSX banks climbed. Royal Bank rose 19% to $54.16. Toronto-Dominion Bank, its largest domestic rival, gained 1.6% to $74.17. Manulife Financial Corp., North America’s fourth-biggest insurer, advanced for a fourth day, climbing 2.4% to $15.70.
Linamar Corp., Canada’s second-largest auto-parts maker, increased 4.5% to $20.30 after customer General Motors Corp. rallied as much as 9.1% following a $20 billion initial public offering.
Uranium One Inc., the uranium producer in which Russia’s ARMZ is buying a controlling stake, climbed 5.4% to $4.90. Yesterday, David A. Talbot, an analyst at DundeeWealth Inc., and Stanislav Chuyev, an analyst at Kazakhstan’s Visor Capital Joint Stock Co., boosted their 12-month share-price estimates on the company.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported Thursday that wholesale sales rose 0.4% to $44.8 billion in September, following a 1.3% advance in August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX/Venture Exchange climbed 33.64 points to 1,987.63, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 15.66 points to 709.51.
In Toronto, all but one of the 14 subgroups gained ground, metals and mining up 5.2%, followed by global base metals, soaring 3.9%, and materials, 2.3% to the good.
Only an ever-so-slight, 0.07% dip by consumer discretionaries kept things from being perfect.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks surged more than 1% Thursday as an early rally gained steam, following a strong debut by General Motors' stock.
Overnight talk that the Irish government was close to accepting a bailout loan eased eurozone worries and sent global stocks soaring. That momentum spilled over to U.S. markets.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 173.35 points, or 1.6%, to close at 11,181.20.
The S&P 500 tacked on 18.10 points to 1,196.69. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index prospered 38.39 points to 2,514.40.
Shares of General Motors opened at $35 U.S. apiece, $2 above the offering price. Trading was very active, with volume topping 452 million shares at the close. That's equivalent to about 10% of the total volume trading on the New York Stock Exchange's Thursday.
The automaker's highly-anticipated initial public offering raised more than $20 billion, making it the largest in U.S. history.
All but one of the Dow's 30 components rose, with Alcoa, Caterpillar and Boeing leading the gains.
After rallying in September and October, stocks have had a rocky November as eurozone worries and uncertainty about the U.S. economy's future have bubbled to the surface.
A possible solution to the Irish debt crisis pushed European and Asian stocks higher, and those gains carried over into the U.S. market. While Irish government officials had been denying that a loan to contain its growing debt was necessary, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank met in Ireland Thursday, and Central Bank of Ireland governor Patrick Honohan said he expects an IMF loan.
Staples reported earnings ahead of the opening bell that were in line with analyst expectations. The office supply chain reported earnings per share of 40 cents U.S. on total company sales of $6.5 billion U.S. for the third quarter. Shares of Staples jumped 2%.
Sears Holdings posted results before the market open that were far worse than analysts expected. The company reported a loss of $1.98 U.S. per share, falling short of the predicted loss of $1.07 U.S. a share. Sears shares slipped 4%.
Dell will release its quarterly results after the close. The PC maker is expected to report earnings of 33 cents U.S. per share, up from 23 cents U.S. per share a year earlier.
Meanwhile shares of NetApp led a broad tech advance, rising more than 8%. Shares of the data storage company had dropped about 6% Wednesday, after parts of its quarterly report were leaked.
Other big tech gainers included Yahoo, Amazon and Broadcom
On the economic front, the number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits edged up 2,000 to 439,000 in the latest week, the Labor Department reported before the bell.
While the number of claims moved higher, analysts had expected a larger increase to 442,000.
Continuing claims -- a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more -- slipped to 4,295,000 in most recent week, the lowest level in nearly two years.
The index of leading economic indicators is expected to have jumped 0.6% in October, afterrising 0.3% the previous month.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury plummeted, hiking the yield to 2.90% from 2.81% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil regained $1.55 a barrel to $81.99 U.S. The price of an ounce of gold added $1.33 to $1,354.17 U.S.
