Equities in Canada’s largest market finished slightly in the green Friday, lead by strength in Energy stocks while the consumer staples sector took a hit after news broke that Amazon will be taking over grocery store chain Whole Foods.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index finished up 32.12 points at 15,192.54.
The Canadian dollar moved rose 0.32 cents to 75.68 cents U.S.
Loblaw shares stumbled $2.70, or 3.58%, to $72.79, while rival Metro plummeted $1.29, or 2.9%, to $43.16.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, Canadian Tire 1.22%, to $147.67, while Magna International fell 2.73%, to $57.30.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported foreigners bought $10.6 billion in Canadian securities, most of them government debt instruments, while Canadians reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $9.9 billion, the largest divestment since January 2016.
Elsewhere, data showed on Friday that lending to small Canadian businesses picked up in April, boosted by activity in consumer-related sectors and suggesting growth in the broader economy was gaining momentum.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 4.29 points to 775.91.
Five of the TSX subgroups struggled Friday with consumer staples down 1.21%, healthcare off 0.76% and tech issues down 0.56%.
On the upside -- Energy issues edged up 0.99%, utilities rose 0.94% and telecom stocks inched up 0.73%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks finished mixed Friday, as investors pored through weaker-than-expected economic data.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined by 0.22%, its third consecutive day of losses. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.11% to finish at a record high. The S&P 500 rose slightly, up 0.03%.
Still, the three major indexes were little changed for the week. Entering Friday's session, the NASDAQ was the only one on track for a weekly loss as large-cap tech stocks have faced selling pressure.
In corporate news, Amazon announced it was buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, or $42 a share. Shares of Kroger, Costco, Target,
SuperValu, Sprouts Farmers Markets and Wal-Mart all dropped following the news.
Housing starts declined to their lowest level in eight months in May even as overall demand in the U.S. housing sector remained generally robust. Starts declined by 5.5% in May to an annual rate of 1.09 million. Building permits also dropped, declining 4.9% to an annual rate of 1.17 million. Both measures missed expectations -- starts were expected to come in at 1.22 million and permits at 1.24 million.
Consumer sentiment unexpectedly weakened in June, according to a preliminary reading from the University of Michigan. The index of consumer sentiment in the U.S. declined to 94.5 from 97.1 in May, driven by a drop in both current economic conditions and consumer expectations. Economists anticipated a flat reading.
Moreover, U.S. economic growth slowed in the first quarter, with Gross Domestic Product increasing at a 1.2% annual rate. GDP grew at a 2.1% in the last quarter of 2016.
The yield on the 10-year note ended marginally lower at 2.157%, marking a 4.4 basis-point decline from last week. The 30-year Treasury bond yield finished little changed at 2.782%, but registered a weekly decline of 7.3 basis points.
Oil prices gained 26 cents to $44.72 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices brightened 53 cents to $1,254.71 U.S. an ounce.
