(CORRECTS ERROR FROM EARLIER REPORT)
Equity prices in Toronto gathered steam on Friday as health-care and information technology concerns rallied, while lower oil prices weighed on energy stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index began the last day of a short week up 61.64 points to 14,110.84
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.43 cents to 76.63 cents U.S.
Markets in Canada were closed Monday for Victoria Day.
Sources say Valeant Pharmaceuticals International received a joint takeover offer from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and TPG Capital Management LP this spring that the embattled Canadian drug maker rejected.
Shares in Valeant climbed $2.51, or 7.2%, to $37.40.
RBC cut the target price on CIBC to $106.00 from $107.00. CIBC shares gave back seven cents to $102.23.
NBF raised the target price on Royal Bank of Canada to $83.00 from $77.00. RBC shares moved higher 17 cents to $80.17.
RBC cut the target price on Suncor Energy to $40.00 from $41.00, with an outperform rating. Suncor gained 17 cents to $35.87.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 5.53 points to 674.40.
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive to begin the session, with health-care haler by 1.7%, information technology clicking 1% higher, and consumer discretionary issues up 0.9%.
The two laggards were metals and mining, down 0.8%, and energy, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mildly higher Friday as traders awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, ahead of the Memorial Day long weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrials crept up 18.25 points to begin what looks to be a quiet session at 17,846.54, Goldman Sachs having the greatest positive impact on the Dow.
The S&P 500 regained 4.84 points to 2,094.94, as financials and consumer discretionary led S&P 500 advancers.
The NASDAQ Composite added 15.18 points to 4,916.95, helped by gains in shares of Alphabet, Ulta Salon and Baidu. Apple traded about 0.5% lower
As of morning trade Friday, the Dow and S&P were within 2% of their 52-week intraday highs. The NASDAQ was about 6% below its 52-week intraday high. All three major indexes were tracking for weekly gains of 2% or more.
Yellen is set to speak with Harvard professor Gregory Mankiw at 1:15 p.m. ET as she receives the university's Radcliffe Medal. Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is also scheduled to deliver remarks.
Economically speaking, the second revision to U.S. first-quarter GDP came in at 0.8%, a touch below expectations although up from the advance read.
Consumer sentiment was 94.7.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 1.84% from Thursday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subsided 64 cents a barrel to $48.84 U.S.
Gold prices were off $3.83 to $1,215.97 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
