Canadian stocks were extending gains for a fourth session Friday morning as euro zone worries eased following comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the European Central Bank's approach to defend the euro is in line with the ideology of the politicians in the region.
Meanwhile, inflation data out of Canada came in tamer than expected, leaving some room for the Bank of Canada to hold rates near record low levels.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 16.09 points or 0.13 percent to 12,048.69, after adding about 200 points or nearly 2 percent in the past three straight sessions.
The Diversified Materials Index rose nearly 1 percent, with Teck Resources (TCK_B.TO) gaining 4 percent. Inmet Mining (IMN.TO) moved up 2 percent, while First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) was adding about 1 percent
The price of crude oil was hovering near its three-month high Friday morning, with possible tensions in Middle-East supporting prices. Crude for September edged up $0.04 to $95.64 a barrel.
In the oil patch, Niko Resources (NKO.TO) rose 3 percent and Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE.TO) added 1 percent.
In the financial space, TD Bank (TD.TO) and CIBC (CM.TO) were up around 0.50 percent each.
Meanwhile, gold stocks were marginally lower amid weak bullion prices. The price of gold moved down as the U.S. dollar was trading mixed, with the euro turning strong following comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Gold for December shed $2.00 to $1,617.20 an ounce.
Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Goldcorp. (G.TO) were down around 1 percent each.
Lake Shore Gold Corp. (LSG.TO) dived nearly 20 percent after announcing that it has increased the size of its previously announced public offering, on a "bought deal" basis, to C$90 million principal amount of convertible senior unsecured debentures, at a price of C$1,000 per debenture, with an interest rate of 6.25 percent per annum.
Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM.TO) said it would provide user friendly applications in its mobiles to facilitate users to tap their contacts' public profiles. The stock shed 1 percent.
Fertilizer maker Potash Corp. (POT.TO) surrendered over 1 percent after announcing a planned shutdown of its Saskatchewan mine for nearly a month.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said consumer prices rose 1.3 percent year-over-year in July, following a 1.5 percent gain in June. Higher prices for the purchase of passenger vehicles, food purchased from restaurants, meat and electricity were major factors in the increase of the July inflation. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.1 percent in July, after decreasing 0.2 percent in June. Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada's core index rose 1.7 percent in the 12 months to July, following a 2.0 percent gain in June.
Elsewhere, euro zone's foreign trade surplus increased in June, the latest figures published by Eurostat showed. The trade surplus rose to EUR 14.9 billion in June from EUR 7.1 billion in May. A year ago, the balance was in a surplus of EUR 0.2 billion.
Earlier today, data from the Federal Statistics Office revealed German producer price inflation eased to 0.9 percent in July from 1.6 percent in June. Economists expected the rate to eased to 1.2 percent. A year ago, the rate of inflation was 2.1 percent.
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