Canadian stocks advance as resources rise

Canada's main stock market in Toronto rose on Monday as gold miners and major energy companies gained amid higher commodity prices.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 26.03 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 13,422.76 points. Three of the TSX index's eight main sub-sectors end higher, Xinhua reported.

Oil prices went up Monday. West Texas Intermediate gained 64 cents to close at $40.36 as major oil producers are set to meet in Doha on Sunday to discuss oil output.

The most influential movers on the index included Barrick Gold Corp., which rose 6.53 percent to 21.04 Canadian dollars ($16.31) as gold hit a multi-week high, and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, which advanced 2.62 percent to 179.91 Canadian dollars.

Canadian Pacific Railway said on Monday it had scrapped efforts to buy Norfolk Southern Corp, almost six months after launching an unsolicited 28-billion-Canadian-dollar bid for the fourth-largest US railroad operator.

The materials group moved higher by 3.62 percent despite losses for major fertilizer producers Potash Corp, which fell 1.35 percent to 20.49 Canadian dollars, and Agrium Inc, down 0.35 percent at 113.57 Canadian dollars.

The financials group ended slightly lower, with Royal Bank of Canada rising 0.13 percent to 74.91 Canadian dollars and Toronto-Dominion Bank retreating 0.11 percent to 54.41 Canadian dollars.

TransCanada Corp on Sunday said it had restarted the 590,000-barrel-per-day Keystone crude pipeline at reduced pressure after receiving US approval. TransCanada acquired 12 cents a share at $50.41.