Stocks in Canada’s largest centre took the good vibes from their southern counterparts and made their way back toward breakeven on Friday, climbing solidly on the week, even as the votes were still being for President of the United States.
The TSX faded 15.34 points to conclude Friday and the week at 16,282.83, for a gain on the week of more than 700 points, or 4.5%.
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.23 cents at 76.66 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks again proved the champions, with Aurora Cannabis soaring $4.57, or 55.9%, to $12.75, while rival Cronos Group popped $1.37, or 16.2%, to $9.82.
Tech stocks strengthened, with Docebo taking on $3.27, or 5.9%, to $59.15, while Open Text Corp. bounded $2.76, or 5.4%, to $54.03.
Among consumer staples, Metro gained $1.54, or 2.4%, to $65.57, while George Weston shares hiked $2.33, or 2.4%, to $99.02.
Energy concerns stumbled, as Arc Resources dumped 43 cents, or 6.2%, to $6.51, while Enerplus gave back 12 cents, or 5.1%, to $2.23.
In consumer discretionary issues, Gildan Activewear fell $1.61, or 5.6%, to $27.29, while Sleep Country Holdings doffed 83 cents, or 3.5%, to $23.10.
Among financial stocks, Laurentian Bank slipped 92 cents, or 3.3%, to $26.90, while Canadian Western Bank discarded 73 cents, or 2.8%, to $25.15.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported the economy created 84,000 jobs in October, but keeping the unemployment rate intact at 8.9%, pretty much same as September.
As well, Western University’s IVEY School of Business said its Purchasing Managers Index for October progressed a notch in October to 54.5 from September's 54.3, towering above the 48.2 figure in October 2019.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange popped 14.86 points, or 2%, to 742.29, for a weekly gain of 58 points, or 8.6%.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups moved into positive territory by the session’s end, with health-care sprinting 5.5%, information technology up 1.2%, and consumer staples ahead 1%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy, down 1.4%, consumer discretionary fading 0.2%, and financials, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks closed mostly flat on Friday as traders looked for clarity around the presidential and congressional election results. Sentiment was kept in check by better-than-expected U.S. unemployment data.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 66.78 points to end the week at 28,323.40.
The S&P 500 lost 1.01 points to 3,509.44
The NASDAQ nicked forward 4.3 points, to 11,895.23.
Energy doffed 2.1%, and financials slipped 0.8%, the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500. UnitedHealth led the Dow lower with a decline of nearly 2%.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads with 253 electoral votes, according to media projections, while President Donald Trump has 214. Votes are still being counted in several key states including Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia. According to some media outlets, Biden has a slight lead in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Despite the uncertainty around the presidential vote, Wall Street notched its best weekly performance since April. The S&P 500 powered ahead 7.3%, and the NASDAQ jumped 9%, for the week. The Dow rose 6.9% this week. The S&P 500 also posted its biggest election week gain since 1932.
The U.S. Labor Department said that country’s unemployment rate fell to 6.9% in October from 7.9%. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the rate to dip to 7.7%. The U.S. economy also added 638,000 jobs last month, topping an estimate of 530,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were lower, lifting yields to 0.82% from Thursday’s 0.77%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices skidded $1.36 to $37.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $6.20 to $1,953.00
