TSX posts biggest gain since August on fiscal stimulus measures
TSX ends up 1.4% at 25,390.68
Posts biggest gain since Aug. 8
Eclipses last Thursday's record closing high
Government proposes new spending measures
Updates for move in gold and investor quote
By Fergal Smith
Nov 21 (Reuters) -Canada's main stock index jumped to a record high on Thursday, with energy and financial shares leading broad-based gains as commodity prices rose and the government proposed measures that could stimulate the economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended up 354.22 points, or 1.4%, at 25,390.68, its biggest gain since Aug. 8.It moved past the record closing high it posted last Thursday.
Wall Street also notched gains as investors digested chip company Nvidia's earnings report.
"There was a lot of bearishness earlier in the year about the prospects for the TSX but this record high ... it's a very broad-based rally and that speaks to underlying strength," said Elvis Picardo, a portfolio manager at Luft Financial, iA Private Wealth.
All ten major sectors notched gains on Thursday as Canada's Liberal government, which is trailing in the polls ahead of next year's election, unveiled C$6.3 billion ($4.5 billion) in proposed new spending measures to help consumers deal with high prices.
"The Canadian economy has been slowing down and I think that can boost consumer spending," Picardo said. "It would impact the economy in a positive way and consequently the banks."
Financials, the most heavily weighed sector on the TSX, rose 1%, helped by a gain of 2.6% for Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO.
Manulife Financial MFC.TO said it will reinsure C$5.4 billion ($3.86 billion) of its reserves as it looks to transfer some risk from its portfolio and free up capital for stock buybacks. Its shares rose 1.4%.
The technology sector climbed 2.2%, with shares of electronics firm Celestica Inc CLS.TO jumping 5.1%.
Energy advanced 1.8% as the price of oil CLc1 settled 2.1% higher at $70.19 a barrel. Industrials added 1.8% and the materials group, which includes fertilizer companies and goldmining shares, was up 1.3%.
Gold XAU= benefited from safe-haven demand, climbing 0.75%.
Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas, Alistair Bell and Diane Craft
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