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TSX rises 0.8% to 20,522.64
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Financials gain 1.2%
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Healthcare advances nearly 2%
(Adds investor quotes and details throughout; updates prices)
By Fergal Smith
April 27 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on
Thursday as financial and energy shares contributed to
broad-based gains, with the market rebounding after it hit a
two-week low the day before.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended up 155.92 points, or 0.8%, at 20,522.64, after
three straight days of declines, preliminary data showed.
On Wednesday, it posted its lowest closing level since April
10. Still, it has rallied about 15% since October.
"I continue to believe that the market bottomed in October,"
said Steve Palmer, chief investment officer at AlphaNorth Asset
Management.
"There is a huge amount of cash still on the sidelines.
Everyone's negative and they are going to start realizing that
they're missing the boat and that's going to start coming back
into the market."
Wall Street also rose as stronger-than-expected corporate earnings offset concerns over slowing U.S. economic growth. The Toronto market's heavily-weighted financials sector gained 1.2% after it was pressured earlier in the week by revived concerns about the health of the U.S. banking sector. Energy advanced 0.6% as oil settled 0.6% higher at $74.76 a barrel, while the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.8%. All 10 major sectors ended higher but healthcare, which is dominated by cannabis stocks, was a standout. It advanced nearly 2% after a cannabis reform bill was reintroduced in the U.S. Congress. (Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal and Jonathan Oatis)
