(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Canadian shares rose after Bank of Montreal and reported better-than-expected earnings and announced dividend increases.
The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) rose 0.4 percent to 15110.50 at 12:56 p.m. in Toronto. Three shares advanced for every two issues that declined as six out of the ten main share groups were in the positive territory.
Financials the index's most heavily weighted sector rose 0.6 percent. Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Canada’s fourth-largest lender was flat at C$77.90 after hiking its quarterly dividend 2 percent and reporting fiscal-second-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates.
() rose 0.8 percent to C$49.74 as second-quarter earnings excluding items rose to C$1.15 a share from C$1.05 beating the C$1.12 a share analysts were expecting. The lender also raised its quarterly dividend to C$0.52 per share from C$0.50 per share.
() which has the heaviest weighting in the index gained 1 percent to C$80.36. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD) the second-largest bank by market value added 0.7 percent to C$56.09.
The materials sub-index which includes mining shares rose 0.4 percent as gold steadied off a two-week low. (TSE:ELD) the Canadian producer with mines in China and Greece rose 0.3 percent to C$5.90 after saying results of a feasibility study on the 85 percent-owned Certej gold-silver project in Romania were positive.
(TSE:G) Canada’s largest gold miner by market value gained 1 percent to C$21.93. (TSE:ABX) the second-largest gained 0.6 percent to C$14.64.
Spot gold was $1186.66 an ounce at 10:18 a.m. little changed from late yesterday while U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down 50 cents at $1186.60. The metal has held within a $1175-1125 range for most of the last month.
The energy sector the main index's second most heavily weighted group fell 0.7 percent as oil Canada’s largest export dropped.
() fell 4.2 percent to C$28.35 as the Canadian light oil producer said it would buy junior oil and gas producer Legacy Oil + Gas () for about C$563 million in stock. The deal is valued at about C$1.53 billion including about C$967 million of debt. To fund the purchase Crescent Point said it has agreed to sell at least C$600 million of common shares at C$28.50 each.
Energy (TSE:SU) Canada's largest oil sands producer inched up 0.1 percent to C$36.24. Limited () Canada’s second-largest energy producer slid 0.1 percent to C$37.93.
The junior () skidded 0.1 percent to 691.01 at 12:32 p.m. in Toronto.
In economic news the Canadian dollar fell to the lowest in a month after the central bank left borrowing costs unchanged and said currency strength could affect the looser financial conditions it achieved with a rate cut earlier in the year. The loonie fell 0.3 percent to C$1.2476 at 12:07 p.m. in Toronto after trading at C$1.2484 the weakest level since April 15.
In the U.S. market shares rose today as major benchmarks recovered ground one day after their biggest losses in weeks. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) rose 0.7 percent to 2119 at 12:23 a.m. in New York. The 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) increased 0.6 percent to 18154 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) jumped 1 percent. Most followed shares included Tiffany Michael Kors Toll Brothers Reynolds American Workday Brown Shoe Movado and AbbVie.
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