Equity indexes in Canada’s largest market found themselves treading water on Friday as gains in the technology sector were offset by losses in shares of energy companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was positive a mere 16.8 points to move into early Friday afternoon at 16,018.51
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.25 cents to 76.69 cents.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday he wanted a good North American Free Trade Agreement as soon as possible, but did not answer directly when asked if he agreed with Washington that the end of September was the final deadline for talks.
On a day when economic reports are at a minimum, Shopify helped lift the technology sector, gaining $1.96, or nearly 1%, to $204.18. Also, Celestica acquired 12 cents to $15.66, and Evertz Technologies gained 20 cents, or 1.2%, to $16.85.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were cannabis producers Aphria, which jumped $1.68, or 9.5%, to $18.94, and Canopy Growth Co, which rose $4.29, or 7.5%, to $61.57.
Hudsons Bay Comp fell five cents to $11.00, while Lucara Diamond was down eight cents, or 3.4%, to $2.25.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was lower, but to within 0.51 points of breakeven to 713.81
Seven of the 12 subgroups were lower approaching midday, as consumer staples let go of 0.5%, while telecoms lost 0.4%, and consumer discretionary stocks slid 0.3%.
The five gainers were co-led by health-care, ahead 3.6%, information technology improved 0.7%, and industrials moved higher 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose slightly on Friday to close out a solid week, led by gains in semiconductor shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average improved 49.84 points to 26,195.83, as Boeing and Goldman Sachs outperformed.
The S&P 500 moved up 2.55 points to 2,906.73, led by tech and financials.Entering Friday's session, the broad index was up 1.1% for the week, and was pressing for a fifth consecutive gaining session.
The NASDAQ pointed higher 15.34 points to 8,029.05, as shares of Nvidia gained more than 2%. Nvidia rose after Needham hiked its price target on the stock, noting the company's "dominance" in machine learning gives the stock more upside. Advanced Micro Devices also rose 4.2%.
Financials also rose as J.P. Morgan Chase climbed 0.4% while Bank of America gained 0.7%. Morgan Stanley gained 1.2%, and Goldman Sachs advanced 0.7%.
Sources told the media on Wednesday that the U.S. was in the early stages of proposing a new round of trade talks with China in the near future.
This comes after a week of turmoil between the two nations, which saw China looking to seek permission from the World Trade Organization to inflict sanctions upon the U.S., and President Donald Trump stating last week that he was "ready to go" on hitting China with an additional amount of tariffs.
Shares of Boeing were up 1.8%, and Caterpillar improved 3% this week. Both are considered bellwethers for global trade.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising yields to 3% from Thursday’s 2.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices squeaked higher nine cents to $68.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices forfeited $6.20 to $1,202.00
