Equities on Canada’s biggest market stayed above Thursday’s close Friday, as higher commodity prices helped resource shares, but losses from earlier in the week left the index on course to snap a nine-week winning streak.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index progressed 40.35 points to greet noon at 15,975.72
The Canadian dollar moved down 0.19 cents to 78.14 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Enbridge, which rose 1.3% to $44.58 and Teck Resources which gained nearly 3% to $27.86.
Shares in TransCanada Corp. withered $1.25, or nearly 2% Friday, after the company shut down part of its Keystone pipeline after 5,000 barrels of oil leaked in South Dakota.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that October’s inflation numbers appeared in line with expectations, as October Consumer Price Index rose 1.4% on a year-over-year basis in October, following a 1.6% increase in September. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, CPI was up 0.2% in October, matching the increase in September.
Experts say October’s number will likely give the Bank of Canada room to take its time raising interest rates after two back-to-back hikes earlier this year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange raced ahead 6.36 points to 798.72
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, as health-care stocks muscled up 3%, materials took on 1.1%, while gold jumped 0.7%
The four laggards were weighed most by utilities, down 0.6%, while industrials and consumer staples, were each off 0.3%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Friday as worries about tax reform lingered on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average went south 93.13 points to 23,365.23, with Wal-Mart leading decliners on the 30-stock index. The retailer's stock rallied to an all-time high on Thursday on strong quarterly results.
The S&P 500 dropped 4.46 points to 2,581.18, with utilities and information technology as the worst-performing sectors.
The NASDAQ Composite eased 1.29 points to 6,787.60, as shares of Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet declined. A 2% gain in Tesla helped the index offset some of those losses.
Media reports circulated Friday that Comcast is interested in acquiring the same set of assets Walt Disney is interested in acquiring from Fox. A Comcast-Fox deal would have the same regulatory issues that Disney would have in acquiring the Fox assets.
Dow Jones also reported that Verizon Communications is also interested in acquiring those same assets. Fox shares popped more than 4%.
Tesla shares jumped after the company unveiled two new vehicles, including Semi truck. Trucking company J.B. Hunt said it has reserved "multiple" Semis.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the media that he expects a Republican tax reform bill to be sent to President Trump by Christmas. Mnuchin made his comments a day after the House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at overhauling the tax code. The Senate now has to vote on their tax plan.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground Friday, lowering yields to 2.35% from Thursday’s 2.37%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recouped 85 cents a barrel to $55.99 U.S.
Gold prices rebounded $7.00 to $1,285.20 U.S. an ounce.
