Canadian stock market edges up on European central bank statement

Canada's main stock market slightly increased Thursday following a statement by the European Central Bank on economic stabilization measures.

Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 15.12 points, or 0.10 percent, to 14,563.38 points, with half of the eight major sectors in the rising streak.

The ECB indicated Thursday that it is preparing to give the euro zone further economic stimulus "should it become necessary" for the stagnant European economy.

The market sentiment was encouraged by the ECB's announcement amid the recent concern about the volatility of the global capital market, with the losses from mining shares offset by the info-tech and the energy sector ones.

The metals & mining sector, which was down 1.81 percent, was the biggest loser in TSX, when the miners Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. tumbled 5.56 percent to 3.40 Canadian dollars (about 2.98 U.S. dollars) and Teck Resources lost 1.36 percent to 17.36 Canadian dollars.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, also slipped 0.46 percent, with National Bank of Canada falling 0.55 percent to 54 Canadian dollars and Royal Bank of Canada dipping 0. 14 percent to 81.16 Canadian dollars. The Info-tech sector shares, however, were up 1.67 percent, leading TSX gainers, with BlackBerry Ltd. gaining 1.91 percent to 11.75 Canadian dollars and the logistics & supply chain management company Descartes Systems rising 4.05 percent to 16.96 Canadian dollars per share.

Also, the energy sector shares were up 0.94 percent when Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. jumped 3.87 percent to 39.74 Canadian dollars and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd added 0.71 percent to 16.91 Canadian dollars.

Industrials shares rose 0.09 percent. Air Canada shares added 5. 39 percent to 9.38 Canadian dollars apiece after the company reported an 8 percent rise in third-quarter profit as operating margins rose. But the Montreal-based company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. dived 8.07 percent to 42.47 Canadian dollars in its stock price after it announced to reduce its global workforce by 4,000, or nine percent of the total.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Thursday morning that municipalities issued building permits were worth 7.5 billion Canadian dollars in September, up 12.7 percent from August, following a 27.3 percent decrease in the previous month.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar went down to 0.8752 U.S dollar Thursday from 0.8780 U.S. dollar Wednesday.