TORONTO (Bloomberg) - Canadian stocks gained, rebounding from a weekly loss, as banks rallied after surveys showed obtaining new loans is becoming less difficult and businesses expect sales to grow.

Royal Bank of Canada climbed three percent after Bank of Canada surveys showed businesses are the most optimistic about their prospects for future sales in almost a decade. Nexen Inc. slipped 0.4 percent as crude fell to an eight-week low on skepticism that the economy and fuel consumption will recover this year.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 144.8 points, or 1.5 percent, to 9,891.93 at 4.12 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark index lost 6.1 percent this month before yesterday, after advancing 37 percent from a five-year low on March 9.

"The market is being tugged in many different directions," said Irwin Michael, a money manager at ABC Funds in Toronto, which manages C$700 million ($605.2 million). "You'll get one bit of information that looks positive and the next thing you know, something negative comes up. There's a fair amount of skepticism out there, so in consequence people aren't rushing to do anything."

Sixty-one percent of executives said their sales will grow over the next year, while another 23 percent expect declines, the biggest gap since the fourth quarter of 1999, according to the Ottawa-based central bank's Business Outlook Survey.

In a separate survey, loan officers who said credit was harder to access outnumbered those saying it was easier by 33 percentage points, less than the 60 points in the April survey, adding to evidence Canada's recession will end later this year, after an annualised contraction of 5.4 percent in the first quarter.

A group of financial companies led the S&P/TSX, adding 2.6 percent. Royal Bank of Canada, the nation's largest lender, gained three percent to C$46.50. Manulife Financial Corp., Canada's largest insurer, advanced 4.2 percent to C$20.03.

Research In Motion Ltd. led declines, falling with US technology companies including Palm Inc. and Motorola Inc. The maker of the Blackberry smartphone fell 1.2 percent to C$77.

Commodity producers slid as the price of oil fell and potash producers retreated after brokerages said prices of the material may keep sliding. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the largest North American producer, fell 1.4 percent after a Russian competitor's contract in India prompted speculation that prices will drop.

The estimated potash price through 2013 was cut 25 percent to $450 a metric ton at UBS AG, which cited a report that Russia's biggest potash producer, OAO Silvinit, had contracted for lower prices than analysts expected.

Nexen, a crude oil and natural gas producer, lost 0.4 percent to $22.57 as crude slid to an eight-week low. Oil futures retreated after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the American economy faces "enormous challenges".

Prices on July 10 capped their biggest weekly decline since January as US consumer confidence fell and fuel stockpiles increased for a fourth week. Crude for August delivery fell 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $59.69 a barrel at the 2.49 p.m. settlement on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

ADF Group Inc. surged 10 percent, the most since May 13, to C$2.46. The metal work company said it received a $77 million contract in North America's public infrastructure sector. The project will create about 50 jobs at the company's Terrebonne plant.