TORONTO (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, completing a second-straight weekly gain, as commodity producers rallied after industrial production in China and consumer confidence in the US increased more than economists predicted.

Goldcorp Inc., the second-largest gold producer in Canada, added 1.1 percent as the precious metal topped $1,013 an ounce before retreating. EnCana Corp., the world's biggest producer of natural gas, advanced 7.8 percent after announcing the resumption of plans to split into two companies, one for oil and one for natural gas.

"The markets are really focused right now on the China story," said Stephen Gauthier, who helps manage C$125 million as a money manager for Demers Valeurs Mobilieres in Montreal. "Commodities in general, crude oil, copper: China's a big, big consumer of those commodities. If the economy continues to rebound in China, the usage of those commodities will go up and prices will go up accordingly."

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index gained 98.23 points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,253.23. The S&P/TSX has soared 49 percent since March 9 as demand from emerging markets, especially China, and economic data signalling an end to the global recession led to a rebound in commodity prices. The index rose 2.1 percent this week as gold and natural gas prices advanced.

Output at China's factories increased 12.3 percent from a year earlier, the most since August 2008, China's statistics bureau said in Beijing yesterday. The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment in the US advanced to 70.2 this month from 65.7 in August. The index was forecast to rise to 67.5, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Gold headed toward a fourth consecutive weekly gain as a slump in the US dollar lengthened, boosting demand for the metal as a hedge against inflation. Silver climbed to a 13-month high. Goldcorp climbed 1.1 percent to C$44.48. Iamgold Corp. rallied 2.9 percent to C$15.18. Detour Gold Corp., a Toronto-based mining company, led stocks in the S&P/TSX with a 9.4 percent surge to C$11.92.

Gold prices tend to go up as the US dollar weakens. The Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar's performance against the currencies of six major US trading partners, declined for a sixth day.

"Despite the fact that the US economy seems to have stabilised, the outlook for most major economies around the world is better," Gauthier said. "The impression is interest rates will go up sooner or faster in other countries."