Toronto market snaps losing streak as bargain hunters step in

By Fergal Smith

(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index ended higher for the first time in five sessions on Monday, with heavily weighted financials and industrials among the sectors to benefit as investors stepped in to take advantage of lower stock prices.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended up 245.72 points, or 1.1%, at 23,027.15, after it posted on Friday its lowest closing level in three weeks.

Part of the impetus "is people coming in buying on the downdraft, which sometimes can be a dangerous game to play," said Michael Sprung, president at Sprung Investment Management.

Wall Street's main stock indexes also rose after a week of losses as investors looked for bargains while they waited for inflation reports in coming days and the Federal Reserve's next policy decision next week.

"People are becoming more concerned with the state of the economy rather than the level of interest rates," Sprung said. "I think we're going to be in for a very, very choppy market for the next while."

Financials, which accounts for about 31% of the TSX's market capitalization, rose 1.5%, industrials were up 1.4% and technology ended 1.5% higher.

The materials group added 1.1% as gold and copper prices rose. The price of oil also increased, settling 1.5% higher at $68.71 a barrel, on concerns that a hurricane forecast to hit Louisiana on Wednesday will disrupt production.

Still, energy was the only major sector to lose ground, falling 0.2%.

Methanex Corp agreed to buy Dutch green fuel maker OCI Global's methanol business for $2.05 billion. The methanol producer's shares ended down 7.9%.

Shares of Air Canada were also a drag, falling 1.2%, after the airline said it's finalizing plans to suspend most of its operations as talks with the pilot union are nearing an impasse.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas, Vijay Kishore and by Sandra Maler)