New european plans a boost to markets

The TSX closed with a triple-digit gain Friday, rising along with global markets as investor sentiment improved after a surprising move by Euro leaders to take aggressive steps toward solving their debt crisis.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 171.86 points to 11,596.56, with all sectors in positive territory save for the information technology index, which was hit by a 20% drop in Research In Motion (TSX:RIM).

The TSX Venture Exchange added 26.52 points to 1,190.99. The TSX was up 0.62% for the week, which also closed out the second quarter of 2012.

EU leaders agreed to pump money directly into stricken banks, let some countries tap into rescue money without submitting to stringent budget requirements and tie European governments closer in economic union.

“The agreement is solid step in the right direction for Europe,” said Benjamin Reitzes, economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Wall Street was also buoyed by the news. The Dow Jones added 277.83 points to 12,880.09 and the S&P 500 was up 33.12 points at 1,362.16, while the Nasdaq gained 85.56 points to 2,935.05.

The Canadian dollar jumped 1.04¢ to US98.44¢ as the price of oil and gold both headed higher.

The price of oil posted the biggest one- day increase in more than three years, with the August crude contract surged $7.27 to US$84.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The energy index was up 2.8% on the TSX, with shares in Suncor Energy (TSX: SU) up 4% or $1.14 to $29.44.

The August gold contract gained $53.80 to US$1,604.20 an ounce, while the September copper contract moved up 17¢ to US$3.50 a pound. The mining index led the way higher, up 4.7% with shares in

Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) ahead 4% or $1.24 at $31.53.

While rising commodity stocks buoyed the TSX, RIM dragged the information technology sector down 2.9%.

Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s economy had a second consecutive month of growth in April, building momentum with a 0.3% increase in gross domestic product compared with March.

The economy took a step backwards in February — when output was affected by a number of production shutdowns — but resumed growth in March, when the GDP advanced by 0.1%.

Also on Friday, the Conference Board of Canada said that its help-wanted index gained 1.1 percentage points in May. That continued an upward trend that began late last year, but one that has weakened recently, partly due to a sizable decline in the index in March.