The Canadian stock market was higher on the first day of February trading as commodity prices advanced amid positive manufacturing data from China and the United States.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 65.51 points, or 0.53 percent, at 12,517.66 while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index gained 5.56 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,637.31.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on Tuesday its purchasing managers index rose 0.2 points to 50.5 from December's 50.3 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 indicate growth.

BMO Capital Markets senior economist Benjamin Reitzes said to the local media that the indicator suggests China's economy is coming in for a soft landing, taking a step further toward dispelling hard-landing concerns.

China has been a main pillar of support for a global economy still struggling to recover from the financial crisis and subsequent recession of 2008. Its strong economic growth has been a big plus for oil and metal prices and commodity stocks on the resource-heavy Canadian stock market.

Other data also showed that Europe's manufacturing sector is performing better than forecast.

The financial sector on the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 1.05 percent while Royal Bank of Canada gained 1.74 percent to 53.28 Canadian dollars.

The tech sector was ahead 1.88 percent with shares in information technology service provider CGI Group up 3.01 percent to 20.86 Canadian dollars even as the company posted lower profits and recorded softer revenue. However, contract bookings were higher in the quarter.

Commodity prices advanced following the Chinese data. The base metals and mining sector climbed 1.39 percent while the March contract for copper rose four cents to 3.83 U.S dollars a pound.

The energy sector was flat as the March crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 1 dollar to 97.40 U.S dollars a barrel.

Oil prices moved off session highs after the latest U.S. inventory figures showed a higher-than-expected increase in crude supplies. The Energy Information Administration reported inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 27, against expectations of a rise of 3 million barrels.

Economically speaking, the Canadian economy contracted in November for the first time since May as oil and gas extraction declined sharply, setting the stage for a sluggish performance in the fourth quarter.

GDP fell 0.1 percent in November, according to Statistics Canada, contrasting with market expectations of 0.2 percent growth. The economy grew 2 percent compared with a year earlier. GDP had stalled in October following four straight months of expansion.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar zoomed up 0.56 cents to 100.31 U.S. cents above parity with its American counterpart. One U.S. dollar was buying 0.9985 Canadian dollars at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, compared with one U.S. dollar purchasing 1.0025 Canadian dollars on Tuesday.