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CANADA STOCKS-Oil shares lead TSX charge after Europe deal

By Ka Yan Ng TORONTO, May 10 (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index surged right out of the gate on Monday, led by its energy group, after an emergency aid deal aimed at preventing Greece's debt crisis from spreading through the euro zone shored up investor confidence. Energy and financials rose 3.04 percent and 2.75 percent respectively as a wave of relief swept through financial markets worldwide. Crude oil rose above $77 a barrel, while industrial metals prices bounced. Suncor Energy rose 3.54 percent to C$33.05, while Canadian Natural Resources was up 3.1 percent at C$74.24. Bank of Montreal advanced 2.8 percent to C$C$60.61, while Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 3.3 percent to C$74.29. At 10:15 a.m. (1415 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 270.14 points, or 2.31 percent, at 11,962.57. It topped the 12,000 mark briefly. The rise followed rallies in European and Asian shares and a strong start for U.S. stocks after the European Union and International Monetary Fund agreed to a rescue package. "It's pretty difficult to figure out what the long term effect of something like that is going to be, but initially, it's certainly a step in the right direction, strictly because there's just been so much speculation running rampant in the last few days," said Bruce Latimer, a trader at Dundee Securities. All 10 groups of Toronto's main index were higher, helping to reverse some of last week's steep losses, which had taken the index to a negative position on the year. Monday's early gains pushed it back into positive territory. The big materials group was also higher, up 0.72 percent, but a broad retreat in gold producers ate into its gains. Kinross Gold lost 1.9 percent to C$17.77, while Barrick Gold fell 1.5 percent to C$44.02. Other miners were on the rise, including Teck Resources , up 6.3 percent at C$38.64. Fertilizer producer Potash Corp added 1.6 percent to C$106.19. ($1=$1.03 Canadian) (Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; editing by Peter Galloway) Keywords: MARKETS CANADA/STOCKS (kayan.ng@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: kayan.ng.reuters.com@reuters.net; 416-941-8109) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved.

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