Canadian stocks jumped the highest in two weeks as financial companies and metals producers spiked up after Lawrence Summers surrendered his bid to be U.S. Federal Reserve chairman and tensions over Syria calmed down. Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce bolstered at least 0.7 percent to lead monetary stocks to the highest close in more than five years. Semafo Inc. and Rio Alto Mining Ltd. climbed at least 6 percent as gold futures advanced for the first time in five days. Wi-Lan Inc. skyrocketed 6.8 percent after settling pending patent litigation’s with Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc. Fed Tapering Investors are debating the speed at which the Fed will taper its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, perhaps as soon as this week’s meeting of policy makers beginning on Tuesday. Rio Alto surged 6 percent to C$2.29 and Semafo traded 8.8 percent higher to C$2.10. Gold for December delivery recorded a 0.7 percent increase to $1,317.80 an ounce in New York, cutting four days of slides. Card Portfolio CIBC will receive about C$3 billion cash, along with an upfront C$200 million, from Toronto-Dominion and Aimia Inc. in exchange for about half of its Aerogold Visa card balances. Aimia, a loyalty-card operator, picked Toronto-Dominion last month as its primary card partner after a two-decade long relationship with CIBC. Aimia skyrocketed 7.3 percent to C$17.85, for a five-year high. Encana Corp. slide back 1.8 percent to C$18.29 and Athabasca Oil Corp. skidded 2.3 percent to C$7.39 as crude dropped to a three-week low. The U.S. and Russia struck a deal on Sept. 14 demanding the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons by mid-2014, with the U.S. saying it maintained a military option to ensure compliance. Torex Gold Resources Inc. bolstered 0.7 percent to C$1.50 after the gold exploration firm reported initial resources from its Media Luna project in Mexico. “The resource came in at the upper end of expectations,” said Daniel Earle, analyst with TD Securities, said in a note to clients. Wi-Lan soared 6.8 percent to C$3.62 after granting a multi-year license for some of its wireless products patents to Alcatel-Lucent. Under a separate agreement, Wi-Lan will also acquire a portfolio of patents from Alcatel-Lucent. CGI Group Inc., Canada’s largest technology firm, increased 5.5 percent to C$35.37, the most in six weeks, after Standard & Poor’s Dow Jones Canadian Index Services added the stock to the S&P/TSX 60 Index. The addition, effective Sept. 20, is expected to trigger 8 million shares of purchasing interest in the Montreal-based technology services company, said Thanos Moschopoulos, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, in an e-mail to Bloomberg.
