Positive finish for TSX

Another springboard sort of day by health-care stocks put markets in Toronto in positive country to end the week, counteracting losses in consumer staple and energy issues.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was better by 11.78 points to end Friday and the week at 16,013.49

The Canadian dollar dipped 0.24 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.

The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were cannabis producers Aphria, which jumped $2.23, or 12.9%, to $19.53, and Canopy Growth Co, which rose $3.69, or 6.4%, to $60.97.

Industrial stocks made respectable gains, among them, Bombardier, up six cents, or 1.3%, to $4.66, while Canadian National Railway climbed 63 cents to $113.71.

Among real-estate concerns, Colliers International Group took on 49 cents to $101.56, while Brookfield Asset Management acquired 13 cents to $55.15.

On the downside, consumer staples faded, with Restaurant Brands International falling back 15 cents to $76.08, while Saputo was unchanged at $38.75.

Energy stocks stumbled, primarily, Canadian Natural Resources, which shed 16 cents to $41.53, while Suncor doffed seven cents to $49.84.

In the materials sector, Agnico Eagle Mines let go of 26 cents to $43.41.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange scrambled out of the red with gains of 0.84 points to end Friday at 715.16

Eight of the 12 subgroups were higher, with health-care picking up 3.2%, industrials ahead 0.5%, and real-estate up 0.4%.

The four laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, down 0.6%, energy and materials each off 0.1%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks were little changed on Friday as reports said President Donald Trump wants to move forward with tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods offset strong gains in chipmaker shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 8.68 points to 26,154.67, to end the week, with Apple and Disney lagging.

The S&P 500 ran its win streak to five sessions, moving up 0.79 points to 2,904.97. Entering Friday's session, the broad index was up 1.1% for the week.

The NASDAQ shed earlier gains and drooped 3.67 points to 8,010.04. Shares of Nvidia gained more than 1%. Nvidia had risen 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 6.5%.

Boeing shares pared gains to trade 1% higher, while Caterpillar erased its gains and was last down 0.5%. Boeing and Caterpillar are considered bellwethers for global trade given their large international exposure.

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 added 37 cents to $68.96 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices forfeited $9.20 to $1,199.00