Equities in Canada’s largest centre fell on Friday, weighed by weakness in energy and mining stocks, while official data showed the nation's economy most likely expanded in June.
The TSX Composite index dished off 22.67 points to 20,289.11.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 to 80.46 cents U.S.
Laurentian Bank Securities cut the target price on Alamos Gold to $14.25. Alamos shares began Friday down six cents to $10.06.
National Bank of Canada raises the price target on Kinross Gold to outperform from sector perform. Kinross shares edged down three cents to $8.15.
CIBC raises target price on Toromont Industries to $109.00 from $106.00. Toromont gained 49 cents to $105.74.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said its industrial product price index was unchanged in June, but up 16.8% compared with June 2020.
By contrast, the agency’s raw materials price hiked 3.9% on a monthly basis in June and 38.1% year over year.
The economy scaled back in May, with the Gross Domestic Product contracting 0.3%, the second consecutive monthly decline, as 12 of 20 industrial sectors were down.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 1.99 points to 919.28
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as consumer discretionary stocks gained 1.4%, real-estate solidified 0.5%, and communications eked up 0.2%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, down 1.1%, while gold slipped 0.5%, and health-care dropped 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks fell on Friday amid a slide in Amazon shares, but the S&P 500 is still on track to notch its sixth straight positive month.
The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 39 points from Thursday’s all-time record to 35,045.53, supported by a jump in Procter & Gamble shares.
The S&P 500 dropped 15.26 points to 4,403.89, from what had also been a fresh high, dragged down by the consumer discretionary sector.
The NASDAQ lost 83.43 points to 14,694.84.
Major averages are still on pace to wrap up a solid month, although volatility has picked up amid concerns about the economic recovery in the face of the spreading delta variant.
The NASDAQ has climbed 1%, while the Dow has added 1.4% in July, while the broad S&P 500 is up 2.2% over the same period. Utilities, health-care, real estate and technology stocks have led the S&P 500 higher for the month, while energy and financials have lagged.
Amazon sank 7.3% after it reported its first quarterly revenue miss in three years and gave weaker guidance. Pinterest fell even further, down 17%, after saying it lost monthly users during the three months ended June 30.
Procter & Gamble shares rose 2% after the consumer giant topped analysts’ estimates for quarterly earnings and revenue. However, the company warned that increasing commodity costs could hit its earnings in the upcoming year.
Shares of online brokerage Robinhood started trading on the Nasdaq at $38 per share on Thursday, but the stock eventually closed its debut session more than 8% lower $34.82 per share. Robinhood shed another 3% Friday.
Investors digested a key inflation indicator that showed better-than-feared price pressures on Friday. The core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.5% in June year over year. It marked a sharp acceleration in inflation but came in slightly below a Dow
Jones expectation of a 3.6% jump.
Weaker-than-expected readings on the U.S. economy further eased concerns about the Federal Reserve dialing back asset purchases.
U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product accelerated 6.5% on an annualized basis, considerably less than the 8.4% Dow Jones estimate.
Meanwhile, the latest weekly jobless claims also came in higher than expected.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday noted that while the economy has come a long way since the COVID-19 recession, it still has a ways to go before the central bank considers adjusting its easy-money policies.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys jumped, lowering yields to 1.23% from Thursday’s 1.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 22 cents to $73.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $6.70 to $1,828.40 U.S. an ounce.
