Canada’s main stock index ended at its highest closing level in more than a month yesterday as bank shares got a boost after Britain’s Barclays Bank said it had a strong start to the current calendar year.

The level of confidence appears to be improving in the financials as the financial sector is up a staggering 24.8% in the last week, and led again yesterday with a 2.3% gain. The energy group helped with a 1% gain.

The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 1% the highest closing level since February 13th. It is the first time since February 9th that the index has closed higher in 5 straight sessions.

Energy stocks did start the day lower due to an early drop in oil prices, but a turnaround in oil prices for the key Canadian commodity allowed it to rebound to a higher close. Oil prices rose to above $47 a barrel as the global equity rally outweighed OPEC’s decision over the weekend not to cut production. Earlier this month, the index dropped to its lowest level in more than 5 years after a string of big selloffs that were due largely to the deteriorating global economy, declining confidence in the banking sector and data confirming that both the Canadian and global economy was deteriorating at a very rapid rate.

Stocks in the United States fell yesterday after American Express said the number of clients struggling to make credit card payments grew, erasing earlier optimism that banks could return to profit in current downturn. It was Wall Street’s first decline in 4 days. American Express caters to wealthier clients that are viewed as more credit worthy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.10%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.35% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.92%.

Stock index futures pared losses and could start the day up this morning based on a report that showed a surprise jump in housing starts for February.

Regards,

Wilfred Vos Bcs, FMA, CIM, CFP, FCSI, DMS, CBV, MBA, CFA

SVP & Partner