Nov 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit a two-month
high on Monday after drugmaker Pfizer said its
experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective and as
hopes of more stimulus under U.S. President-elect Joe Biden also
boosted sentiment.
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE
are the first drugmakers to release successful data
from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine.
The companies said they have so far found no serious safety
concerns and expect to seek U.S. authorization this month for
emergency use of the vaccine.
* At 9:47 a.m. ET (1447 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's
S&P/TSX composite index was up 379.21 points, or
2.33%, at 16,662.04.
* The index is on track to record its highest single-day
jump in nearly seven months.
* Cenovus Energy Inc's shares jumped 15% after the
oil and gas producer said it will sell its Marten Hills oil
assets in northern Alberta to Headwater Exploration Inc
for C$100 million ($77.16 million).
* The energy sector climbed 11.9% as U.S. crude
prices were up 10.7% a barrel and Brent crude
added 9.6%.
* A decliner was the materials sector, which
includes precious metals miners, lost 5% as gold futures
fell 4%.
* On the TSX, 171 issues were higher, while 50 issues
declined for a 3.42-to-1 ratio favoring gainers, with 69.55
million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX was Aurora
Cannabis, which jumped 25.9%, after reporting an
improvement in quarterly results.
* Alamos Gold fell 11.8%, the most on the TSX,
while the second biggest decliner was Kinross Gold Corp,
down 10.2%.
* The TSX posted 22 new 52-week highs and no new low.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 147 new 52-week
highs and 10 new lows, with total volume of 129.36 million
shares.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren
Daniel)