(RTTNews) - Toronto stocks finished a light trading day slightly higher on Friday, snapping a two-session streak of declines. Mining stocks post a notable gain in an otherwise uneventful session.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 37.19 points or 0.36% to move 10,283.10. U.S. traders were off in observance of Independence Day.

Toronto’s main index finished a choppy week down 106.66 points on lower-than-usual volume. The market was closed on Wednesday for Canada Day.

Mining stocks are up 1.1% with the Comex closed for the holiday. Teck Resources (TCK.B.TO) soared 8% as the company announced that China Investment Corporation has agreed to purchase 101.3 million Class B subordinate voting shares of Teck for C$17.21 apiece.

Ivanhoe (IVN.TO) jumped 4%, FNX Mining (FNX.TO) added 2% and HudBay (HBM.TO) rose 1.1%.

The Energy Index was the only major index to finish lower, losing 0.7%, as crude oil slipped a little more than $1 in electronic trading. Nexen (NXY.TO) dropped 1.5%, Encana (ECA.TO) fell 1.1% and Suncor (SU.TO) slipped 0.9%.

On the corporate front, Petro Andina Resources (PAR.TO) fell 1.4% after its board has urged shareholders to reject a $400-million takeover offer from Pluspetrol Resources.

Nova Chemicals (NCX.TO) added 1% after the company said all regulatory approvals required to complete its sale to International Petroleum Investment have been received. IPIC will pay US$6.00 in cash for each of the issued and outstanding common shares of Nova.

Also on Friday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he expects unemployment to continue to climb in 2010 despite economic recovery, according to The Canadian Press.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted in Categories: Canada, Releases, Stocks, USA.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email