Canadian stock market edges up as energy rally offsets losses by miners' shares

Canada's main stock market in Toronto stayed in the positive territory Thursday as gains driven by energy shares overpowered severe losses from the mining sector due to disappointing quarterly financial results.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index added 80.98 points, or 0.57 percent, to 14,382.78 points.

A slump both in bullion and basic metals prices in the commodities market weighed on the intra-day trading sentiment. Metals and mining shares dived 5.02 percent on the closing bell, after most of the heavyweights reported downbeat quarterly financial reports.

In individual companies' performance, Goldcorp Inc., the biggest gold stock by market value in TSX, plunged 1.38 percent to 16.46 Canadian dollars (about 12.65 U.S. dollars) after it reported an adjusted net earnings of 65 million U.S. dollars in the second quarter, compared to 164 million U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2014.

Meanwhile, First Quantum Minerals Ltd., the biggest negative mover in the sector Thursday, shrank 10.44 percent to 10.12 Canadian dollars, as the basic metals giant reported Wednesday after the closing bell that its comparable earnings per share decreased 88.5 percent and its revenue decreased 35.4 percent in the second quarter, compared with the same period of last year.

A big rise of 2.89 percent in Energy, the second most-heavily- weighed sector in TSX, however, helped boosted the trading sentiment, as Canada's biggest oil and gas producer Suncor Energy Inc. led the gainers. Its stock price jumped 6.33 percent to 36.81 Canadian dollars a share, after the company announced that it would increase the dividend for its shareholders.

And another positive mover Crescent Point Energy Corp. gained 4. 02 percent to 20.20 Canadian dollars per share.

Besides, the telecom sector advanced 1.27 percent, when the leading company Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. rose 3.09 percent to 29.68 Canadian dollars per share, after it reported that its free cash flow grew 41 percent in the second quarter.

With no significant economic data released Thursday, Canada's third biggest bank Scotiabank issued an economic commentary, saying that although the Canadian economy faces a number of challenges, consumer spending and housing activity remain quite buoyant in the Toronto and Vancouver regions, both of which are being underpinned by Bank of Canada rate cuts this year, and continuing private-sector job gains.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar was traded lower to 0.7686 U.S. dollar Thursday, when compared with 0.7726 U.S. dollar Wednesday, and "(the Canadian) currency trends have become increasingly volatile, the Canadian dollar will likely remain at a deep or potentially even deeper discount to the greenback, providing a solid boost to the domestic tourism and entertainment industry," according to the report by Scotiabank Thursday.