TORONTO (Bloomberg) - Canadian stocks rose for the first time in four days, led by financials and commodity-linked companies, as an expansion in US service industries in September signaled the economic recovery is spreading.

Bank of Nova Scotia, the country's third-largest lender, advanced 2.1 percent. Goldcorp Inc. gained 2.2 percent on higher bullion prices. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. added 2.1 percent after announcing an agreement with the Mongolian government on a copper-and-gold project.

"From this point forward, the market's going to be driven by economic data," said Ted Whitehead, who oversees about C$1.1 billion ($1.02 billion) as a money manager at MFC Global Investment Management in Toronto. "The bounce from March to September was based on the financial crisis ending, and now the market wants to see that the recession is over."

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index climbed 144.29 points, or 1.3 percent, to 11,102.62.

The S&P/TSX fell 3.4 percent from September 18 through October 2, as weaker-than-forecast figures on US durable-goods orders, home sales, employment and factory sales fanned investors' concerns that the recovery would be slower or less robust than they anticipated.

The Institute for Supply Management said yesterday its index of US non-manufacturing businesses rose to 50.9 last month from 48.4. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 50. Non-manufacturing businesses represent almost 90 percent of the US economy.

Canadian bank stocks followed their US peers higher after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended clients invest in large American banks. Bank of Nova Scotia rose 2.1 percent to C$47.08. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canada's fifth-largest lender, increased 2.6 percent to C$64.96.

Commodity stocks rallied as investors abandoned the safety of the US dollar for higher-yielding assets. Gold futures for December delivery added 1.3 percent to $1,017.80 an ounce in New York.

Goldcorp, Canada's second-largest gold producer by market value, climbed 2.2 percent to C$42.21. The world's largest gold producer, Barrick Gold Corp., advanced 1.6 percent to C$39.67. New Gold Corp., with properties in Australia and North and South America, rose 6.4 percent to C$4.16, building on its 4.3 percent gain on October 2.