* TSX up 49.29 points at 10,927.64
* Gold miners help erase early TSX skid
* Drop in bank shares caps overall gain
(Recasts)
By Frank Pingue
TORONTO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index was
higher on Tuesday as Barrick Gold Corp and other gold miners
rallied on rising gold prices, while a surge in railway stocks
helped to reverse the index's early triple-digit skid.
Barrick (ABX.TO) shares rose 5.9 percent to C$41.70, while
Goldcorp (G.TO) followed with a gain of 5.5 percent to
C$42.35.
The price of gold hit a record high at $1,080.60 an ounce
on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar fell ahead of a U.S. interest
rate decision. [GOL/]
Railway stocks also helped to drive the gain after news
that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will buy railroad
Burlington Northern in a $26 billion deal. [ID:nN03483590]
That helped boost Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) shares
2 percent to C$53.71, while Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO)
shares rose 3.4 percent to C$48.80.
"Everybody thinks (Buffett) is a bit of a guru so what he
does kind of does affect the markets and in this case all the
railroads of course are having a nice start to the day," said
John Kinsey, portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities Ltd.
By 11:15 a.m. (1615 GMT), the S&P/TSX composite index
.GSPTSE was up 49.29 points, or 0.45 percent, at 10,927.64.
Earlier it had fallen as much as 126 points to 10,751.72 as
bank shares were unloaded due to concerns about the European
banking sector.
Heavyweight bank shares remained under pressure due to poor
results from UBS UBSN.VS and a shakeup of British banks
Lloyds (LLOY.L) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L).
Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) shares were down 1
percent at C$54.26, while Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) fell 0.5
percent to C$46.00.
"They are having sympathy pains," Kinsey said. "European
banks started this earlier and it's come across the pond and is
just spreading."
($1=$1.07 Canadian)
(Editing by Peter Galloway)
