Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, lifted by gains in mining shares as gold prices rose, while investors kept an eye on developments in Middle East peace talks.
The TSX Composite Index had grown 113.38 points late Friday morning to 34,963.59. On the week so far, the index has increased 106 points, or 0.3%.
The Canadian dollar was 0.02 cents above water to 70.44 cents U.S.
Discovery Silver gathered 55 cents, or 7.1% to $8.27, while I-80 Gold hiked nine cents, or 4.6%, to $2.05, and Equinox Gold rose 76 cents, or 5.7%, to $6.41.
Canada and Japan are working on a range of mining projects, including potential joint stockpiling. Federal Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told Reuters, as Japan moves to diversify supplies of critical minerals and reduce dependence on China.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved ahead 6.41 points to 901.79. The index is down on the week so far, however, 53 points, or 5.5%.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday Friday, led by gold, ahead 2.5%, materials, strengthening 2.1%, and health-care, better by 1.5%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy and telecoms, sliding 0.4% each, while consumer staples dropped 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Friday as OpenAI is reportedly considering delaying its IPO and as a selloff in tech gathered pace amid mounting concerns over the rising cost of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The Dow nosed ahead 8.7 points to 51,929.32.
The much-broader index sank 8.37 points to 7,3349.12.
The NASDAQ fell 75.77 points to 25,282.83.
Chip stocks were weaker after a New York Times report that OpenAI is considering delaying its IPO to next year because of SpaceX’s poor performance following its debut and overall volatility in AI-related shares.
The report raised concerns about “sustainability of their infrastructure spending given the delay in funding from the capital markets,” wrote JPMorgan traders in a note.
Investors continued to buy up shares of health-care stocks after the group was a standout in the prior trading day. Shares of Eli Lilly were up nearly 6%, while Johnson & Johnson gained more than 3%. AbbVie shares advanced more than 2%.
Chip stocks were weaker after a New York Times report that OpenAI is considering delaying its IPO to next year because of SpaceX’s poor performance following its debut and overall volatility in AI-related shares.
Shares of Micron Technology declined 2%, as did Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. Additionally, software stock Oracle dropped more than 1%.
Consumer sentiment rose but was still at low levels as June drew to a close while longer-term inflation expectations plunged, the University of Michigan reported Thursday.
The university’s Surveys of Consumers saw the headline sentiment index at 49.5, just above the 49.0 consensus estimate from Dow Jones but 10.5% above the May reading.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury forged ahead, lowering yields to 4.37% from Thursday’s 4.40%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tumbled $2.91 to $69.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices leaped $48.60 to $4,096.20. U.S. an ounce.
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