Stocks in Toronto rode something of a rollercoaster Friday, but managed to surge above breakeven toward the end of the last full week before Canada Day.
The TSX Composite index recovered 15.14 points, to conclude Friday’s session at 20,230.26. The gain on the week was 233.18, or 1.17%.
The Canadian dollar squeezed ahead 0.15 cents to 81.31 cents U.S.
Health-care led most sectors down, with Aurora Cannabis sinking 28 cents, or 2.4%, to $11.25, while Organigram Holdings docked 18 cents, or 4.8%, to $3.61.
Gold fell, with B2Gold sliding 18 cents, or 3.4%, to $5.18 while New Gold let go of 30 cents, or 2.9%, to $9.90.
Blackberry beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, lifted by a rebound in demand for its QNX operating software and cybersecurity products.
BlackBerry shares finished Friday down 71 cents or 4.5%, to $14.94, while HUT 8 Mining doffed 18 cents, or 3.8%, to $4.53.
Financials gained ground, with Manulife up 44 cents, or 1.8%, to $24,6s, while Fairfax Holdings picked up $9.61, or 1.8%, to $560.16.
Among energy concerns, Arc Resources increased 51 cents, or 5.4%, to $10.51, while Tourmaline Oil jumped 85 cents, or 2.6%, to $34.00.
Industrials jumped, too, with Badger Infrastructure Solutions up $1.19, or 3.3%, to $37.70, and New Flyer Industries gaining 37 cents, or 1.3%, to $28.01.
A survey by Export Development Canada showed on Thursday confidence among Canadian exporters has surged to its highest level in more than 20 years, amid mounting optimism that a sustained global economic recovery is underway.
An indigenous group in Saskatchewan on Thursday said it had found the unmarked graves of an estimated 751 people at a now-defunct Catholic residential school, just weeks after a similar, smaller discovery in B.C. rocked the country.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange weakened 2.08 points to 948.51. The index lost 31 points, or 3.18%, on the week.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the day, as health-care ailed 0.7%, and gold was duller in price 0.5%, and information technology was off 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by financials, up 0.5%, while energy picked 0.3%, and industrials inched up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose on Friday with the S&P 500 building on its rally to records, as investors bet that higher inflation will be temporary as the economy continues to recover from the pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 237.02 points to 34,433.84.
The S&P 500 hiked 14.21 points to 4,280.70
The NASDAQ tailed off 9.32 points from Thursday’s all-time record, to close the week at 14,360.39.
The S&P 500, which closed at a record Thursday, is up 2.6% for the week so far, which would be its best gain since early April. The Dow is up 3.2% this week and the NASDAQ is up 2.6% since last Friday.
Nike’s stock surged 14%, helping to boost sentiment for the Dow. The company reported earnings and revenue that blew past Wall Street estimates. Digital sales also jumped 41% since last year and 147% from two years ago.
On the flipside, FedEx dipped 4% despite beating on the top and bottom lines of its earnings. FedEx also gave a strong yearly outlook.
Shares of Caterpillar jumped 2.6% on optimism around an infrastructure deal on Thursday. The shares were higher by another 1% Friday.
Wall Street extended gains after a key inflation indicator that the Federal Reserve uses to set policy rose 3.4% in May, the fastest increase since the early 1990s, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The reading matched the expectation from economists polled by Dow Jones. The core index rose 0.5% for the month, which actually was below the 0.6% estimate.
President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the White House struck an infrastructure deal with a bipartisan group of senators. The lawmakers have worked for weeks to craft a roughly $1-trillion package that could get through Congress with support from both parties.
The framework will include $579 billion in new spending on transportation like roads, bridges and rail, electric vehicle infrastructure and electric transit, among other things.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were lower, raising yields to 1.52% from Thursday’s 1.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 64 cents to $73.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $3.70 to $1,780.40 U.S. an ounce.
