Canada stocks rebound on Chinese data

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Canadian stocks climbed Friday with commodities and consumer staples supporting the market, as investor sentiment rose on better-than-expected growth numbers out of China.

The S&P/TSX benchmark index CA:GSPTSE tracking the performance of stocks in Toronto added 89.06 points, or 0.78%, to settle at 11,514.53, buoyed by increases of 1% in the materials sector XX:TTMT , 2.3% in the metals and mining sector XX:TTMN ,�and 1.2% in shares of consumer staples XX:TTCD .

The overall gains in Toronto, which fell on Thursday, lagged a broad-based Friday rally on Wall Street. Read more in Market Snapshot.

/quotes/zigman/20942 GSPTSE 11,662.59, +156.09, +1.36% /quotes/zigman/4867882/sampled USDCAD 1.0013, 0.0000, 0.0000%

China�s growth in gross domestic product met economists� targets, expanding at a 7.6% rate from the previous year. However, this was the slowest rate in three years, downshifting from an 8.1% rate during the first three months of 2012. Read more on China GDP.

Following surprising interest-rate cuts last week, market observers had expected that China�s economic data would turn out to be much worse, meaning that not-as-bad numbers can be interpreted as positive for the market, said CIBC economist Benjamin Tal.

�This market is becoming extremely asymmetrical and it will not take much to surprise it on the upside,� said Tal. �After the past few weeks the market is more immune to bad news.�

Earnings reports in the U.S. financial sector also had a positive spillover effect in Canada, said Peter Buchanan, senior economist at CIBC.

Further, rising gold prices are contributing to momentum seen in the TSX �as investors focus on the potential for further easing in China and favorable seasonals, relative to the approaching indian festive seasonals,� added Buchanan.

Reuters A factory in Sichuan province in China.

Gold futures reversed some of the weeks� previous losses, adding $26.70 to finish at $1,592 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Read more on gold.

Energy stocks also saw widespread gains as the Toronto trading week came to a close, with Second Wave Petroleum CA:SCS climbing 7.6% and Candax Energy CA:CAX �adding 11.1%.

In energy trading, crude for August delivery rose to $87.1 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 1.2% on the session. Read more on oil.

On the corporate front, shares of Montreal-based Garda World Security Corp. CA:GW �rose 3.5%, after announcing a subsidiary would acquire privately held McKinnon Services.

In economic matters, Capital Economics analysts said that Canada�s economy likely experienced second-quarter growth of 1.7%, which would be below the 1.9% rate seen in the two previous quarters.

�Softer than expected monthly trade figures, both for exports and imports, suggest that our previous forecast was too high,� wrote Capital Economics analysts in a note.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell against its Canadian counterpart USDCAD , with one greenback purchasing C$1.0148 vs. C$1.0196 Thursday.

Session gains weren�t enough to send Toronto�s resource-heavy benchmark equities index positive on the week, tallying nearly 1.3% in losses since Monday.