(Corrects closing level for index in second paragraph)
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index rose on Monday, clawing back some recent declines at the start of a big week for central bank policy decisions, as higher oil prices supported the energy sector and technology shares climbed.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ends up 72.63 points, or 0.4%, at 20,019.70, after closing lower in the previous six sessions.
U.S. stock indexes also rose as investors braced for key inflation data on Tuesday and a likely interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are also expected to raise rates this week.
“They (the Fed) don’t want to sound too aggressive as there is the risk of making a fairly big mistake if they start hiking more aggressively into a recession,” said Greg Taylor, a portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.
The Bank of Canada has also been raising interest rates. Speaking to business leaders in Vancouver, Governor Tiff Macklem said the tightening had “begun to work” but would take time to feed through the economy.
The Toronto market’s energy sector rose 0.9% as the price of oil settled 3% higher at $73.17 a barrel, rebounding after it hit its lowest level this year on Friday.
The potential of a prolonged outage of TC Energy Corp’s Canada-to-U.S. Keystone crude oil pipeline helped underpin oil. Shares of TC Energy edged 0.2% higher.
The technology sector advanced 1.7%, while industrials gained nearly 1%.
(This story has been corrected to fix the closing level for index in second paragraph)
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Additional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
