Equities in Toronto had the spotlight pretty much all to themselves Friday, as American markets retired early and allowed the focus to shift north of the border on real-estate and utility stocks.
The TSX Composite gained 39.7 points to end Friday and the week at 20,383.77. The index gained nearly 403 points, or 2,02% for the week, and was trading above the 200-day moving average.
However, on a year-to-date basis, the index is still down more than 3.7% as investors fear aggressive policy tightening by central banks could trigger a global economic downturn.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.02 cents to 74.78 cents U.S.
Among utilities, the strongest sector on the day, Capital Power advanced 84 cents, or 1.9%, to $45.24, while Emera jumped a dollar, or 1.9%, to $52.62.
In the real-estate sector, units of Dream Industrial REIT gained 24 cents, or 2%, to $12.31, while Allied Properties REIT took on 53 cents, or 2%, to $27.43.
Communications were also in the green, primarily, Cogeco, up $1.25, or 1.7%, to $75.25, while Rogers grabbed 62 cents, or 1%, to $60.62.
Gold stocks moved downward, as Kinross Gold chucked 17 cents, or 3%, to $5.54, while Wesdome Gold slipped 59 cents, or 6.2%, to $9.00.
In materials, K92 Mining shed 26 cents, or 3.3%, to $7.67, while Lithium Americas fell $3.42, or 9.5%, to $32.57.
In techs, JHUT 8 Mining forked over six cents, or 3.7%, to $1.58, while Sylogist lost 17 cents, or 3.3%, to $5.02.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 5.68 points to register at 575.64 Friday, placing the smaller exchange in the red for the week, 0.2 points, or 0.4%.
All but three of the 12 subgroups were positive on the day, with utilities ahead 1%, real-estate up 0.8%, and communications, improving 0.6%.
The three laggards were gold, sinking 1.2%, materials, weaker by 0.7%, and information technology, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose Friday, notching a gain during the holiday-shortened trading week.
The 30-stock index hiked 152.97 points to begin Friday at 34,347.03, marking the third consecutive session of gains.
The S&P 500 faded 1.14 points to 4,026.12.
The NASDAQ fell 58.96 points to 11,253.22, weighed down by shares of Activision Blizzard, which fell 4% on news that the FTC could block Microsoft from taking over the gaming company.
All three indexes ended the week higher. The Dow is up 1.8%, and the S&P 500 is up 1.5% during the short week. The tech-heavy NASDAQ is lagging the other two indexes but is still up 0.7% in the same timeframe.
Next week, investors will be watching for more earnings reports from companies such as Kroger and Ulta Beauty on deck. On the economic front, traders will be watching further comments from Fed officials, as well as the release of the personal consumption expenditure report on Thursday — the central bank’s preferred inflation indicator. The November jobs print is due next Friday.
Worries about continued lockdowns in China kept markets in check. The country is ramping up COVID restrictions after seeing climbing case counts in recent days. Earlier in the week, China reported its first COVID deaths since May.
Markets in the U.S. were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and re-opened Friday till at 1 p.m. EST.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained ground, lowering yields to 3.69% from Wednesday’s 3.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumped $1.27 to $76.67 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices grew $7.50 to $1,753.10 U.S. an ounce.
