CANADA STOCKS TSX reaches six week high as investors wait for inflation data

(Adds comments, details; updates prices)

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Mullen Group sinks to bottom of TSX with dour forecast

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Colliers International Group wins rating upgrade

Shristi Achar A & Johann M Cherian

Jan 16, 2016 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock market rose on Monday for a seventh session, boosted by technology, energy and financial stocks. Traders looked ahead to a week full of key economic data, including consumer price inflation.

10:05 a.m. ET (1505 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 38.76 points, or 0.19%, at 20,398.86 – a six-week high. Canada’s annual inflation rate slowed to 6.8% in November, as gasoline prices rose slower. Investors will be focusing on the December inflation data due Tuesday. Economists polled at Reuters predict a 6.4% increase annually.

Allan Small Financial Group senior investment advisor, said, “We’re going have the CPI Report, so that’ll prove crucial, giving us an indicator how the fight against inflation’s going.”

Low trade volumes were observed across the border when the U.S. markets closed for Martin Luther King Day.

The gains in the energy, technology and financial sectors were between 0.2% to 0.4%.

Gold miners were among the worst offenders, falling 0.2% with spot gold prices dropping.

Canadian factory sales were flat in November, unexpectedly due to lower sales of chemicals, petroleum, and coal products.

The commodity-heavy index has gained nearly 5% since the start of the year compared to the 4.1% gain in the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index, even triggering a “golden cross” on Friday, suggesting bullish momentum.

The company news showed that Mullen Group dropped 6.6% following the announcement by logistics provider Mullen Group that its revenue will exceed $500 million, although profits margins were softer due to slowdown in global trading.

The stock was upgraded by Scotiabank to “outperform” and Colliers International Group, an investment management company, gained 3.3%. (Reporting done by Shristi Achar A, Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru. Editing by Kirsten Dovan.