Canada Stocks Hit Five Week High, Crude Gap Widest in Four Years

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks closed at a five-week high amid gains in material and consumer shares, while the Western Canada crude differential hit the widest gap in four years.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 11 points or 0.1 percent to 16,114.03. Materials stocks rose 0.6 percent, propelled by a 2.8 percent gain at Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and a 2.9 percent increase at Agrium Inc. Agrium is buying Louis Dreyfus Co.’s fertilizer business.

The energy index lost 0.5 percent. Crude prices fell 1.5 percent as fears subsided that a crack in a major North Sea pipeline would disrupt supplies.

In other moves:

Stocks

• Element Fleet Management Corp. rose 8.7 percent to the highest since May. Canada’s largest pension fund and Onex Corp. are bidding for the company, according to people familiar with the matter
• Hudson’s Bay Co. gained 6.6 percent after activist investor Land & Buildings Investment Management said it still believes the retailer’s real estate portfolio is underd
• MTY Food Group Inc. fell 4.7 percent and Imvescor Restaurant Group Inc. fell 2.6 percent. MTY is acquiring Imvescor for C$248 million

Commodities

• Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $26.50 discount to WTI, the widest gap in four years, amid bottlenecks on pipelines and rail networks
• Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.46 discount to Henry Hub
• Gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,238.50 an ounce, the lowest since July

FX/Bonds

• The Canadian dollar weakened 0.1 percent to C$1.2869 per U.S. dollar
• The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose one basis point to 1.87 percent

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