(Updates at market close)
By Anand Gopal R and Fergal Smith
TORONTO, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index rallied on Monday as a sharp drop in oil prices boosted investor sentiment at the start of a new month, with industrial and metal mining shares leading broad-based gains.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 181.06 points, or 0.5%, at 35,801.09, recouping some of Friday’s steep decline.
* “It’s more repositioning for the new month, along with support from oil and developments in the Middle East,” said Michael Dehal, a senior portfolio manager at Dehal Investment Partners at Raymond James.
* US crude oil futures settled 7.4% lower at $96.46 a barrel as talks between Iranian and Qatari officials lifted hopes for an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran and stabilization of Middle East crude supply.
* The price of gold rebounded from a one-year low hit in the previous session, rising 1.8%, as the pullback in oil prices tempered inflation worries.
* The materials group, which includes metal mining shares, rose 2.3% after tumbling 13.1% in October.
* Industrials added 2.5%, with shares of construction and engineering firm WSP Global up 5.4%.
* Heavily weighted financials were up 1%, while the interest rate sensitive real estate sector ended 2.6% higher.
* Canada’s 10-year yield eased 4.9 basis points to 3.750% after earlier touching a two-month low of 3.737%. The Bank of Canada has worried that soaring energy costs could drive broader inflation.
* Just two major sectors ended lower, including energy , which dropped 4.8%.
* Domestic data was downbeat. It showed that Canada’s manufacturing sector contracted in October for the first time this year as tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty weighed on activity, and after inflation pressures intensified.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Anand Gopal and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Nia Williams)
