Canada's main stock index hit a seven-month high Wednesday due to soaring Pretium Resources Inc shares and modest gains in the hefty financial services group.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 30.04 points, or 0.19 percent, to close the at 15,800.40.

It was the index's highest close since February 22. Eight of the index's 10 main sectors rose. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the market by 138 to 106.

Pretium Resources surged 24.1 percent to 15.05 Canadian dollars after the company said its Brucejack mine produced 82,203 ounces of gold in the third quarter.

The overall materials sector, which includes miners, fertilizer producers and forestry companies, rose 0.3 percent. Gold futures were up 0.1 percent to 1,292 U.S. dollars an ounce, while copper prices advanced 0.7 percent to 6,808.75 U.S. dollars a ton.

The financial services group, which makes up for about a third of the index's weight, edged up 0.2 percent.

The energy group fell 0.1 percent due to some profit-taking by investors following Tuesday's rally on the back of a 2.7 percent jump in U.S. crude prices.