Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose a second day, led by resource producers, as commodities gained on speculation a $586 billion Chinese stimulus package will spur demand.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. paced the advance among energy companies as natural-gas led the commodity-price rally on prospects that colder U.S. weather will stoke consumption. Barrick Gold Corp. climbed more than 6 percent, lifting mining shares. Canada's main stock index pared gains along with oil in the afternoon. Technology stocks fell after Nortel Networks Corp. had its biggest net loss since 2001.

``China's planning to spend all this money,'' said David Baskin, president of Baskin Financial Services in Toronto, which manages about C$350 million. ``That should give at least some support to commodities. I never believed that Americans were going to spend the winter freezing in their cellars.''

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index added 1 percent to 9,688.80 in Toronto after climbing as much as 3.5 percent earlier, when oil rose more than $5 a barrel.

Canada's main equity gauge, which gets three-quarters of its value from energy, mining and financial shares, has dropped 36 percent from a June 18 record as commodity prices suffered their worst slump in five decades and financial institutions worldwide racked up more than $685 billion in credit losses and writedowns tied to U.S. subprime mortgages and other debt.

Canadian Natural, the country's second-biggest gas producer, rose 6.4 percent to C$57.51. Suncor, the second- largest oil-sands mining company, climbed 6.2 percent to C$27.08. Talisman Energy Inc., another oil and gas producer, added 5 percent to C$11.81. EnCana Corp., Canada's largest energy company by market value, advanced 1.5 percent to C$59.03.

Gold Miners

Barrick, the world's biggest bullion mining company, gained 6.4 percent to C$29.95. Goldcorp Inc., the second-largest by market value, added 5.4 percent to C$27.55. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., owner of Canada's biggest gold deposit, climbed 9.4 percent to C$41.75.

December gas futures added 7.3 percent to $7.248 per million British thermal units, on speculation that colder U.S. weather will stoke demand for the heating fuel. Crude oil rose $1.37 to $62.41 a barrel in New York after climbing as much as 7.4 percent earlier. Copper, gold and silver advanced.

Manulife Financial Corp., North America's largest insurance company by market value, climbed 2.5 percent to C$26.65, after being raised to ``outperform'' from ``sector perform'' by RBC Capital Markets analyst Andre-Philippe Hardy in Toronto.

Nortel, North America's biggest maker of phone gear, fell 26 percent to a record C$1.11. The Toronto-based company posted a net loss of $3.4 billion and said it plans to cut 1,300 jobs.

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry e-mail phones, fell 3.8 percent to C$55.69. Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G became U.S. consumers' preferred handset last quarter, passing Motorola Inc.'s Razr and Research In Motion's Curve.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Kipphoff in Montreal at jkipphoff@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 10, 2008 17:35 EST