CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises as drop in oil prices helps lower interest rates
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, helped by gains for financial and telecommunication stocks, as oil pulled back from its highest level since April and investors looked ahead to a more seasonally favorable period for the market.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index .GSPTSE ended up 179.33 points, or 0.5%, at 36,107.96, stopping just short of Friday's closing level, which was the highest in over three weeks.
"You are entering one of the best seasonal periods of the year. November and December are historically pretty rewarding months, especially given the current environment that is really oversold from a breadth perspective," said Sid Mokhtari, chief market technician for CIBC Capital Markets.
US crude oil futures settled 1.8% lower at $101.79 a barrel as traders weighed a meeting between the Iranian president and Pakistan's army chief, a key US-Iran mediator, against continued Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure.
The move in oil helped lower interest rates, said Mokhtari, adding, "you bring rates lower then you start buoying the utilities and telcos — things that were hit hard with the recent rise in rates."
The Canadian 10-year yield eased 6.8 basis points to 3.894% after rising sharply on Monday as investors raised bets on a Bank of Canada interest rate hike next week.
The communication services index .GSPTTTS and heavily weighted financials .SPTTFS both rose 1%, while industrials ended 0.7% higher.
Shares of Bombardier BBDb.TO advanced 4.4% after US President Donald Trump dropped threats against the jet maker to ban it from the US market.
BlackBerry BB.TO was another standout, rising 7.9% and contributing to gains for the technology sector .SPTTTK.
Resource shares were a drag, with energy .SPTTEN falling 0.5% and the materials group .GSPTTMT ending 0.8% lower.
The price of gold was down 0.4%.