Canadian Stocks Pull Back Off Best Levels But Still Close Higher

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks turned in a strong performance during trading on Wednesday, regaining ground following the pullback seen in the previous session.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index pulled back well off its highs for the session but still ended the day up 78.27 points or 0.5 percent at 16,575.28.

Energy stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, driving the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index up by 1.9 percent.

The rally by energy stocks came as the price of crude oil for September delivery jumped $1.06 to $42.67 a barrel following the release of a report showing a bigger than expected weekly drop in U.S. crude oil inventories.

Considerable strength was also visible among industrial stocks, as reflected by the 1 percent gain posted by the S&P/TSX Capped Industrials Index.

Meanwhile, materials stocks showed a strong move to the upside early in the session but gave back ground as the price of gold pulled back off its best levels of the day.

Moderate weakness in the corporate real estate and consumer staples sectors also partly offset the strength in the aforementioned sectors.