Fed hopes boost TSX, offset BlackBerry gloom

By John Tilak

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index advanced on Friday as hopes for continued U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus measures fueled widespread gains and helped offset a steep decline in BlackBerry shares after the smartphone maker reported disappointing results.

Despite the gain on the last trading day of the second quarter, the index looked set to record its biggest quarterly decline in a year.

BlackBerry shares fell 25 percent after its quarterly report offered few signs of a long-promised turnaround. The company posted an unexpected operating loss and gave few details on sales of its make-or-break new line of smartphones, and did not signal a return to profit in the current quarter.

Giving the market support, data showed Japan's consumer prices stopped falling in May and labor demand reached its strongest level in five years.

Investors also continued to take heart from a Federal Reserve official's comments on Thursday that the U.S. central bank's asset purchases would be more aggressive than it outlined last week if U.S. economic growth and the labor market are weaker than expected.

"The Fed and (Fed Chairman) Ben Bernanke are starting to see some shoots of growth happen," said Arthur Salzer, executive director and chief executive of Northland Wealth Management.

"They will moderate (the stimulus rollback) and slowly begin to implement it," he added. "The markets are starting to come to grips with that."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> was up 146.76 points, or 1.22 percent, at 12,152.54.

Nine of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher.

The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, added 3.7 percent. Gold mining shares jumped 5.6 percent as the price of bullion climbed.

Goldcorp Inc gained 5.9 percent to C$25.25, and Barrick Gold Corp rose 5.5 percent to C$16.43.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, were up 0.7 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank

rose 1.1 percent to C$84.82.

BCE Inc shares climbed 3.3 percent to C$43.33 after Canada's broadcast regulator approved a C$3 billion ($2.86 billion) bid by the telecoms company to take over Astral Media Inc .

BlackBerry's drop to C$11.31 caused a 6.7 percent decline in the information technology sector.

($1=$1.05 Canadian)

(Editing by Peter Galloway)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tsx-set-open-higher-blackberry-weigh-heavily-124034992.html

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