Equities in Canada’s largest centre managed gains late Friday, the second last day of a momentum November, as growth in health-care and tech stocks carried the day.
The TSX pulled out of the hole it was in early Friday and gained 45.22 points to end the session at 17,396.56. The gain for the week was 377 points, or 2.22%.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.18 cents to 76.98 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks led the field, with Aurora Cannabis showing gains of $2.18, or 18.7%, to $13.83, while Trillium Pharmaceuticals scaled $2.13, or 8.8%, to $26.31.
Among techs, Lightspeed POS surged $3.39, or 5%, to $71.89, while BlackBerry picked up 25 cents, or 3.2%, to $7.98.
In the consumer staples field, Saputo rallied 68 cents, or 1.9%, to $36.05, while Jamieson Wellness tallied 64 cents, or 1.8%, to $35.61.
Real-estate proved the biggest anchor, with Brookfield Property Partners units dropping 73 cents, or 3.4%, to $20.97, while REAL Matters slid 42 cents, or 2.1%, to $20.08.
Gold stocks also suffered, with Barrick Gold down 77 cents, or 2.6%, to $29.48, while OceanaGold fell four cents, or 2.4%, to $1.65.
In other resources, Pretium slid 35 cents, or 2.4%, to $14.35, while SSR Mining retreated 56 cents, or 2.4%, to $23.00.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 3.03 points to finish Friday at 749.20, a hike of 8.75 points on the week, or 1.2%
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green, led by health-care, up 5%, information technology, gaining 1.1%, and consumer staples, up 0.7%
The three laggards were real-estate, down 0.4%, while gold and materials each lost 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday as traders wrapped up a strong week amid decreasing political uncertainty and positive vaccine news.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 37.9 points to conclude a shortened session at 29,910.37.
The S&P 500 recovered 8.7 points to 3,638.35, notching a record closing high.
The NASDAQ raced 111.44 points to 12,205.85, and also closed at an all-time high.
U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Friday’s session closed at 1 p.m. EST.
The Dow gained 2.2%, and S&P 500 rose 2.3%, for the week. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, posted a weekly gain of nearly 3%. Earlier in the week, the Dow jumped to an all-time high, breaking above 30,000 for the first time and hit an all-time high.
Retailers led the early gains as investors bet on a strong holiday shopping season.
Etsy shares popped 10.7%, and Gamestop advanced 9%. Amazon shares gained 0.3%, and Shopify climbed 1.5% after Adobe Analytics said Thanksgiving Day online sales rose to a record $5.1 billion.
Also helping sentiment were comments from President Donald Trump, who said he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.
Friday’s gains added to the market’s surge this month, which was sparked in part by a slew of positive coronavirus vaccine trial data.
Earlier In November, Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine was more than 90% effective. Moderna also said its drug was highly effective in a trial.
That data helped push the Dow up 12.9% in November, putting it on track for its biggest monthly gain since January 1987. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ are up 11.3% and 11.9%, respectively, in November
Also helping sentiment were comments from President Donald Trump, who said he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury climbed sharply, lowering yields to 0.84% from Wednesday’s 0.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 19 cents to $45.52 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $20.50 to $1,790.70 U.S.
