TORONTO, May 15 -- Canada's main market started the week higher, as advances in Energy and Financial sectors contributed to a day where produced mostly winners.
Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard &Poor's/TSX Composite rose 91.59 points, or 0.59 percent to close the session at 15,629.47 points. All ten sub-groups gained ground during the day.
Energy and Financial groups had the biggest impact during the session, gaining 1.09 percent and 0.76 percent, respectively.
The TSX Energy group shot up after Saudi Arabia and Russiaagreed to extend the crude oil agreement to limit supply until March 2018, nine months longer than expected. As a result, benchmark Brent crude oil jumped 2.04 percent to a three-week high of 51.90 U.S. dollars for a barrel delivered in July.
Subsequently, Calgary-based energy firms thrived, as shares of Baytex Energy Corp and Cenovus Energy Inc climbed 3.17 percent and 1.98 percent, respectively. Suncor Energy Corp, the largest crude oil producer in the country, advanced 0.92 percent to end the day at 43.85 Canadian dollars (32.15 U.S. dollars).
Financial sector bounced back after losing ground in back-to-back sessions after Canada's top-six banks received a downgrade in their credit ratings by U.S. firm Moody's last Thursday. All six banks finished with gains on Monday, with No. 1 ranked Royal Bank of Canada leading the charge with a 1.23 percent gain to close at 93.62 Canadian dollars (68.63 U.S. dollars) a share. National Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank also contributed with respective gains of 0.97 percent and 0.90 percent.
Manulife Financial, the largest insurance firm in the country, also contributed to the group's success with a 0.81 percent gain to close the session at 23.79 Canadian dollars (17.44 U.S. dollars).
Health Care and Industrials also provided a boost during the session, moving up 1.74 percent and 0.94 percent, each.
Health Care received an uplift from drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals one week after the firm posted its first profitable quarter in six tries. Shares of the Laval-based firm shot up 3.29 percent to 19.33 Canadian dollars (14.17 U.S. dollars). Also aiding the group was pharmaceutical firm ProMetic Life Sciences (1.49 percent gain) and medical marijuana distributor Canopy Growth Corporation (1.47 percent gain).
The TSX Industrials group closed ahead due to strong performances from the country's largest railway firms. Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway Limited shares rose 2.06 percent to 217.49 Canadian dollars (159.44 U.S. dollars), while Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Company moved up 1.32 percent to close at 103.00 Canadian dollars (75.51 U.S. dollars).
The remaining groups that managed to close Monday's session higher were: Information Technology (0.68 percent), Consumer Staples (0.55 percent), Consumer Discretionary (0.33 percent), Utilities (0.28 percent), Materials (0.26 percent), and Telecommunications (0.09 percent).
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.33 cent to a two-week high at 0.7331 U.S. dollars.
