Canadian stocks advanced on Friday, finishing with a third straight monthly gain, as raw-materials rallied on First Quantum Minerals’ earnings and the nation’s economy contracted less than expected in February.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index triumphed 65.02 points Friday to end the day, week and month at 13,951.45. The index increased 3.3% in April, matching the longest monthly winning streak since August 2014.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.09 cents to 79.75 cents U.S.
First Quantum jumped $1.53, 16.7%, climbing to an eight-month high of $16.70, after reporting first-quarter earnings and revenue ahead of analysts’ estimates.
Still in the metals and mining field, Teck Resources shot higher $1.34, or 9.6%, to $15.36.
Air Canada soared $1.05, or 12.7%, the most in two years, to $9.33, as the airline reported an unexpected first-quarter profit, benefiting from falling fuel prices and rising traffic.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International slipped $2.41, or 5.5%, to $41.83, after filing its delayed 2015 annual report and saying it may make significant changes to its business strategy.
Neither outgoing Chief Executive Officer Mike Pearson nor former Chief Financial Officer Howard Schiller will stand for re-election and five independent directors have also told the board they will not run again.
Among gold issues, Kinross Gold acquired 66 cents, or 10.2%, to $7.15, while rival Yamana Gold jumped 50 cents, or 8.7%, to $6.22.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy ailed during February. After rising for four consecutive months, real gross domestic product edged down 0.1% during the month.
The output of goods-producing industries declined in February, while the output of service-producing industries was essentially unchanged.
The agency also said its Industrial Product Price Index declined 0.6% in March, weighed by lower prices for motorized and recreational vehicles, while higher prices for energy and petroleum products somewhat compensated.
The Raw Materials Price Index increased 4.5%, led by higher prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange marched ahead 9.73 points to 674.87
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were negative, as health-care stocks ailed 2.3%, while utilities let go of 0.8%, and consumer staples lost 0.7%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by metals and mining, bolting 9.9%, gold, climbing 6.5%, and materials, up 5.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed well off session lows Friday, with the Dow and S&P posting gains for April.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumbered 57.12 points to 17,733.64, as Home Depot and Travelers pushed the index upward, while Wal-Mart had the greatest negative impact.
The S&P 500 dropped 10.51 points to 2,065.30, with health-care leading nine sectors lower and consumer discretionary the only advancer.
The NASDAQ Composite Index fell 29.93 points to 4,775.36, helped by Amazon.com.
Amazon.com reported earnings well above expectations on both the top and bottom line, helped by growth in its Amazon Web Services business. First-quarter earnings of $1.07 a share on $29.13 billion U.S. in revenue compares with last year's loss of 12 cents a share and $22.72 billion U.S. in sales.
LinkedIn's results also soared past expectations and the firm raised its full-year outlook.
Chevron posted a greater-than-expected loss of 39 cents U.S. a share, while revenue beat expectations at $23.55 billion. That marked a roughly 32% decline in sales from the comparable year-ago figure of $34.56 billion U.S.
Exxon Mobil reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations.
Apple extended recent losses to briefly trade more than 2% lower in late-morning trade to come within less than $1 above its 52-week intraday low of $92.00 U.S. a share, touched on Aug. 24, 2015. The iPhone maker's stock is tracking for a weekly decline of about 11.5%.
Gilead Sciences reported earnings that missed on both the top and bottom line. Pricing pressure in the hepatitis C market was among the factors weighing on the drug maker’s results, although it did provide upbeat news for investors with a 9.3% dividend increase to 47 cents U.S. per share. The stock fell more than 8.5% in late-morning trade.
In economic news, personal spending rose 0.1% in March, while personal income rose 0.4%. The Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs, increased 0.6% after an unrevised 0.5% gain in the fourth quarter, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the ex-food and energy personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, edged up 0.1% last month. In the 12 months through March, the core PCE rose 1.6% after advancing 1.7% in February.
Elsewhere, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for April was 50.4, below expectations of 53.0 and March's 53.6 print.
The final April read on consumer sentiment was 89.0.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury lost a bit of ground, raising yields to 1.83% from Thursday’s 1.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices dropped four cents a barrel to $45.99 U.S.
Gold prices climbed $26.33 to $1,290.50 U.S. an ounce.
