Equities in Canada`s largest centre rose in early trade on Friday, with energy and mining stocks helped by higher commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index began the week`s last session up 32.03 points to 15,594.44
The Canadian dollar regained 0.08 cents to 75.14 cents U.S.
ValueAct Capital raised its stake in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, in a move that could provide a confidence boost to the drug company three days after its largest shareholder sold out of the stock.
Shares in Valeant declined 26 cents, or 1.7%, to $14.77.
Barclays raised the rating on Empire Co to equal weight from underweight. Shares in the parent company of the Sobeys food store chain took on 15 cents to $18.25.
CIBC cut the target price on Transat AT to $5.50 from $6.00. Transat shares gained seven cents, or 1.4%, to $5.27.
Gold stocks powered the upward motion of the market, as Barrick Gold surged 30 cents, or 1.2%, to $25.51, while Goldcorp gained 13 cents to $20.62.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose for the third consecutive month, up 0.6% to $53.8 billion in January.
The agency went on to attribute the gain to a 2.3% increase in non-durable goods sales, led by the petroleum and coal, and chemical industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 2.28 points to 813.20
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green, with gold brighter by 0.7%, utilities up 0.6%, and materials 0.5% to the good.
The two laggards were in health-care, down 0.6%, and consumer discretionaries, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range Friday, with the NASDAQ composite struggling for gains.
The Dow Jones Industrials poked up 15.17 points to 20,949.72. McDonald's contributed the most to gains, while IBM had the greatest negative impact.
The S&P 500 moved upward 0.94 points to 2,382.32. Health-care was one of two decliners in the S&P 500.
The NASDAQ squeezed 0.13 points higher to 5,900.89. Amgen shares temporarily fell more than 6% after disappointing results from its latest cholesterol-lowering drug
The third Friday of every March, June, September, and December is the day of quadruple "witching," the expiration of three related classes of options and futures contracts, along with individual stock futures options. Friday is also St. Patrick's Day.
On the data front, industrial production came in unchanged for February. Capacity utilization edged 0.1% lower to 75.4%. Consumer sentiment and leading indicators were due to be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained slightly, lowering yields to 2.5% from Thursday’s 2.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 18 cents to $48.93 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $3.80 to $1,230.70 U.S. an ounce.
