Equities in Toronto rose on Friday as financials rallied, while resource stocks retreated with commodities and investors waited for possible clues on the timing of U.S. interest rate hikes from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped 42.03 points to greet noon at 14,091.23
The Canadian dollar slid 0.16 cents to 76.9 cents U.S.
Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.7% to $57.88, and Brookfield Asset Management Inc advanced 1.3% to $45.99.
Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International rose 8.5% to $37.85. Reports say the drug maker received a joint takeover offer from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical and TPG Capital Management LP this spring that it rejected.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 11.32 points to 668.61.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive midday, as health-care soared 1.7%, information technology gained 1.4%, and consumer discretionaries took on 1.1%.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.2%, materials, off 0.7%, and the metals and mining sector, trailing 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded slightly higher Friday as traders awaited comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen, ahead of the Memorial Day long weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved higher 35.44 points to 17,863.73. UnitedHealth proved strongest on the Dow
The S&P 500 gained 6.57 points to 2,096.67. Health-care led S&P 500 advancers in late-morning trade, while energy was the only decliner. Consumer discretionary and financials were also among the top gainers
The NASDAQ Composite added 25.31 points to 4,927.07, helped by gains in shares of Alphabet, Microsoft and Comcast. Apple traded slightly lower
As of late-morning trade Friday, the Dow and S&P were within 2% of their 52-week intraday highs and tracking for weekly gains of more than 2%. The NASDAQ was about 6% below its 52-week intraday high and on pace for a weekly gain of more than 3%.
Yellen is set to speak with Harvard professor Gregory Mankiw this afternoon as she receives the university's Radcliffe Medal. Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is also scheduled to deliver remarks.
In a light day of economic news, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment was 94.7 in May, below expectations but up from 89 in April.
Elsewhere, the second revision to U.S. first-quarter GDP came in at 0.8%, a touch below expectations although up from the advance read.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained back lost ground, lowering yields back to Thursday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subsided 24 cents a barrel to $49.24 U.S.
Gold prices were off $6.02 to $1,213.78 U.S. an ounce.
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