Stocks in Canada’s largest market edged higher on Friday and were on pace for their best weekly performance since early February 2021, lifted by gains in miners and upbeat retail sales data for May.
The TSX gained 36.95 points to reach noon EDT Friday at 19,099.80
The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.14 cents to 77.90 cents U.S.
The top percentage gainers on the TSX were First Majestic Silver, up 28 cents, or 3.2%, to $8.97, and Wesdome Gold Mines which rose 31 cents, or 3.3%, to $9.60.
Shopify fell $4.03, or 7.8%, to $48.00, while pot producer Aurora Cannabis, down 15 cents, or 7.6%, to $1.82.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported retail sales increased 2.2% to $62.2 billion in May.
The agency adds sales were up in eight of 11 subsectors, led by higher sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged down 0.24 points to 616.01
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, as materials gathered 1.2%, gold gained 1.1%, and real-estate towered 0.9% over Thursday.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, subsided 2.7%, information technology, capsizing 2.5%, and consumer discretionary, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ fell Friday as investors digested a fresh batch of corporate earnings that included disappointing results from Snap, which sent social media shares reeling. Still, all three major averages were on pace for a weekly gain.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave back 53.09 points midday Friday at 31,983.91.
The S&P 500 dropped 26.62 points to 3,972.33.
The NASDAQ floundered 184.03 points, or 1.5%, to 11,875.58.
The three major averages are set for weekly gains, with the NASDAQ on course to close out the week 4.8% higher. The Dow is on track for a 2.9% advance, while the S&P 500 is set to rise 3.6%.
An earnings miss from Snap, which sent shares tumbling 38%, halted this week’s NASDAQ rally. Traders, eyeing some better-than-expected results from tech companies, had deliberated whether markets had finally found a bottom.
The results from the Snapchat parent, which was followed by a slew of analyst downgrades on the stock, also weighed on other social media and technology stocks investors feared could get impacted by slowing online advertising sales.
Shares of Meta Platforms and Pinterest fell 5% and 10%, respectively, while Alphabet lost more than 2%.
Twitter declined slightly after reporting disappointing second-quarter results that missed on earnings, revenue and user growth. The social media company blamed challenges in the ad industry, as well as “uncertainty” around Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company, for the miss.
Meanwhile, Verizon dropped more than 4% after the wireless network operator cut its full-year forecast, as higher prices dented phone subscriber growth.
Nearly 21% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings so far. Of those, 70% have beaten analyst expectations
Treasury prices moved sharply higher, lowering yields to 2.79%, from Thursday’s 2.90%.
Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 58 cents to $96.93 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved up $14.40 to $1,727.80 U.S. an ounce.
