A recent rally took a breather Friday, as investors took some profits ahead of a long weekend on both sides of the border.
The S&P/TSX Composite dipped 25.54 points to close the day and week at 15,838.63
The Canadian dollar fell 0.13 cents to 76.34 cents U.S.
Stock markets in Toronto are closed Monday for Family Day.
Among telecoms, BCE gained 18 cents to $58.78, while Rogers Communications acquired 41 cents to $57.50
Consumer discretionary stocks advanced, helped by a 1.9% gain – or $2.91 -- for Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd to $157.42.
Some analysts raised their target price on Canadian Tire's stock after the company reported strong fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday.
Real-estate stocks also gathered steam, as Brookfield Asset Management strengthened 34 cents to $48.89.
Gold stocks were not so fortunate, as Barrick Gold demurred 39 cents, or 1.5%, to $26.42, while Kinross Gold dropped seven cents, or 1.4%, to $5.07.
Among materials stocks, First Quantum Minerals dived 87 cents, or 5.5%, to $15.00, while Osisko Mining weakened 21 cents, or 5.2%, to $3.84.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that foreigners acquired $10.2 billion worth of Canadian securities during December, largely through acquisition of shares. At the same time, Canadian investors increased their holdings of foreign securities by $6.7 billion, led by purchases of non-U.S. foreign shares.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 0.6 points to 843.92
The 12 subgroups were evenly split with telecoms leading the gainers, up 0.7%, while consumer discretionary and real-estate issues each climbed 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, down 1.8%, materials, off 1.3%, and energy, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed mixed on Friday as a record-setting rally slowed down, while investors kept an eye on France's presidential election.
The Dow Jones Industrials struggled into the green 4.28 points above Thursday’s all-time high to 20,624.05, with UnitedHealth leading decliners and Boeing outperforming.
The S&P 500 recovered 3.94 points to 2,351.16, with energy leading seven sectors lower and consumer staples the top advancer.
Media reports had Japan's SoftBank Group prepared to give up control of Sprint to T-Mobile to clinch a merger of the two U.S. wireless carriers.
The NASDAQ gained 23.68 points to 5,838.58. The indexes were on track to post weekly gains of more than 1%.
The only major economic data released Friday concerned leading indicators, which rose 0.6% in January.
Overseas, according to recent polls, Marine Le Pen — France's far-right, anti-European Union candidate — is the favourite to win the first round of voting, scheduled for April. However, it is not clear whether she will win the run-off vote in May.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.42% from Thursday’s 2.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up four cents to $53.40 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices faded $4.30 to $1,237.30 U.S. an ounce.
