Another good read. SMF069

Gold miners push the main Canadian index to its highest level since early May

By Alastair Sharp Sept 7, 2012

TORONTO (Reuters) - Gold miners helped push the main Canadian index to its highest level since early May on Friday as bullion rose and investors cheered signs the Federal Reserve would follow the European Central Bank in embarking on monetary easing to help kickstart growth.

Bullion raced to a six-month high as U.S. jobs growth slowed, setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to pump additional money into the economy of Canada's main trading partner as early as next week.

"The jobs numbers out of the U.S. today further provides reason for QE3, which would be positive for gold," said Philip Petursson, director of the portfolio advisory group at Manulife Asset Management, referring to a third round of bond-buying known as quantitative easing.

Other commodity-related stocks, comprising roughly half of the index, also gained after China approved a multi-billion dollar infrastructure spending plan.

By 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT) the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE had gained 95.65 points, or 0.79 percent, to 12,235.38, its highest level since May 2.

The move added to a sharp jump on Thursday after the ECB unveiled its plan to backstop the borrowing costs of struggling euro zone countries, a move Petursson said also encouraged investors to turn to hard assets.

The world's largest miner, Barrick Gold (ABX.TO:) carried the index higher, rising 2.4 percent to C$39.20, while other major miners rose even more. Goldcorp (G.TO:) added 2.8 percent to C$42.51, Kinross Gold K.TO jumped 5.3 percent to C$9.43 and diversified miner Teck Resources (TCKb.TO:) gained 5.5 percent to C$28.53.

Crude, copper and other commodities moved higher, and the combination of news out of Europe, the United States and China suggested further rises were possible.

"Other commodities, oil specifically, could benefit...copper could see gains as well, especially with the announcement out of China, the additional stimulus to help their economy," Petursson said.

China approved $157 billion in projects to build highways, ports and airport runways as it looks to energize an economy mired in its worst slowdown in three years, fuelling hopes the world's growth engine may get a lift from the fourth quarter.