Canada Stocks Recover as Commodities Bounce Back

Canadian stocks rose Friday, with a weak U.S. dollar prompting a rebound in gold and oil prices and gains in commodity-related shares.

The S&P/TSX Composite IndexCA:$ISPTX +0.84% rose 103.85 points, or 0.8%, to 12,465.66, wiping out the previous session’s decline of 0.6%.

The S&P/TSX Capped Materials IndexXX:TTMT +1.63% led the market on Friday as it advanced 1.6%, and the S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining IndexXX:TTMN +0.85% rose 0.8%. The S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index XX:TTEN +0.90% climbed 0.9%.

Gold for April delivery GCJ2 +1.13% closed up $19.90, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,662.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude oil for May delivery CLK2 +1.33% gained $1.52, or 1.4%, to close at $106.87 a barrel, nearly erasing a loss of 1.8% in the previous session.

Shares of Yamana Gold Inc. CA:YRI +3.71% climbed 3.7%, Goldcorp Inc. CA:G +1.97% rose 2% and Barrick Gold Corp. CA:ABX +1.74% advanced 1.7%.

Earlier Friday, Statistics Canada said consumer prices increased 2.6% in February after 2.5% growth in January while the Bank of Canada’s core index rose 2.3% last month, following 2.1% rise in January.

“Considering the increasing slack in labor markets and moderate labor costs, however, we do not think that this uptick in core inflation points to higher interest rates at all,” said economists at Capital Economics in a report. “If we are correct about weaker housing activity ahead, then in a year from now we think interest rates will be lower,” they said- according to Market Watch.

In currencies, the Canadian dollar USDCAD +0.0232% turned modestly higher against the U.S. dollar, with the greenback buying 99.89 Canadian cents compared with 99.91 cents late Thursday.