Canada's main stock index opened higher on Friday, pulled up by gains in the materials and energy sectors, as the index recovered some of its weekly losses.
The TSX Composite regained 83.79 points to kick off Friday trading at 22,193.90.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.03 cents at 72.26 cents U.S.
Brookfield Asset Management is in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in private credit manager Castlelake with an investment of more than $1.5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Brookfield shares began Friday down 60 cents, or 1.1%, to $54.31.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 7.01 points, or 1.2%, to 598.29.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with consumer discretionary and information technology ditching 0.5% each, and consumer staples slid 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by gold, up 3.3%, materials, better by 2.3%, and energy, ahead 1.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Friday as major U.S. banks kicked off the corporate earnings season while inflation and geopolitical concerns weighed on investors.
The Dow Jones Industrials swooned 291.63 points to start Friday at 38,167.45.
The much-broader index fell back 42.53 points to 5,156.57.
The NASDAQ fizzled 158.56 points, or 1%, to 16,283.64.
Week to date, the broad market index is down 0.7% and 30-stock Dow has dropped 1.7%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has managed to buck the trend and is currently 0.4% higher for the week.
JPMorgan Chase shares declined more than 3% after the banking giant posted its first-quarter results. The bank said net interest income, a key measure of what it makes through lending activities, could be a little short of what Wall Street analysts are expecting in 2024. CEO Jamie Dimon also warned about persistent inflationary pressures weighing on the economy.
Wells Fargo slid around 1.1% after reporting its latest quarterly figures. Citigroup added more than 1% after posting a revenue beat.
Oil prices continued their rise on reports that Israel is preparing for a direct attack by Iran this weekend, in what would be the biggest escalation of tensions in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October. U.S. crude was last at $87.05 a barrel.
That, coupled with fresh U.S. imports data, added fuel to inflation concerns that have put pressure on the market.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury rallied, lowering yields to 4.48% from Thursday’s 4.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $2.28 to $87.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $49.20 to $2,421.90 U.S. an ounce.
