Canada’s main stock index fell on Friday, a day before Remembrance Day, but was still on track for its longest weekly winning streak in more than two decades after hitting a record high on Tuesday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 42.83 points Friday to close the week at 16,039.20
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 78.87 cents U.S.
The TSX’s nine consecutive weeks of gains, a feat not seen since 1996 when it rose for 13 straight weeks, was fueled in large part by energy stocks that profited from a nearly 25% rise in U.S. crude oil prices.
On Friday, health-care issues ruled the roost, as Canopy Growth Corp. zoomed 69 cents, or 3.6%, to $20.04, while cannabis rival Aphria Inc. picked up 32 cents, or 3.9%, to $8.51.
Among tech firms, Descartes Systems Group climbed 35 cents to $38.12, while BlackBerry inched up five cents to $13.69.
Telecoms improved as TELUS Corporation added 98 cents, or 2.1%, to $48.50, while BCE gained 32 cents to $61.12.
Gold firms ailed Friday, as Kinross Gold fell seven cents, or 1.3%, to $5.46, while Barrick Gold reversed 17 cents, or nearly 1%, to $17.72
In the financial field, Manulife Financial doffed 57 cents, or 2.1%, to $26.90, while Royal Bank subsided 84 cents to $99.85.
Materials also felt around for the bruises, as Yangarra Resources retreated 12 cents, or 2.6%, to $4.44, while Wheaton Precious Metals faded $1.19, or 4.5%, to $25.53.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.28 points to 796.48
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, with health-care leading the advancing groups, ahead 1.3%. Information technology picking up 1.2%, and telecoms, up 1%,
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, off 1%, financials, down 0.8%, and materials, subsiding 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
The major U.S. stock indexes closed mostly lower on Friday as they snapped multi-week winning streaks while some of the largest tech stocks pulled back.
The Dow Jones industrial average faded 39.73 points to 23,413.52, with Intel and Merck as the biggest decliners. But a 3% gain in Disney shares capped losses in the 30-stock index.
The S&P 500 declined 2.32 points to 2,582.30, with health-care and energy as the biggest declining sectors. Johnson Controls was the worst-performing stock in the index, falling 4.1%.
The NASDAQ Composite inched higher 0.89 points to 6,750.94
The Dow and S&P 500 snapped an eight-week winning, their longest since 2013; the NASDAQ ended a six-week winning streak.
Some of the largest tech stocks closed lower for the week, including Facebook, Netflix and Alphabet. Tech has been the best-performing sector this year. Stocks have also been pressured by fears that a corporate tax cut could be delayed.
Chip maker stocks bucked the trend, however. Nvidia posted earnings per share and revenue that easily beat analyst expectations. The company's stock rose 5.3% and was the best performer in the S&P 500.
Nvidia posted earnings per share and revenue that easily beat analyst expectations. The company's stock rose 4% and was the best performer in the S&P 500.
Other chip makers, including Micron and Advanced Micro Devices, also saw their shares rise. The semiconductor space has been on fire this year, up more than 40% in 2017.
The retail sector also saw positive earnings surprises, with J.C. Penney shares surging 15.3% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
Nordstrom's results also beat expectations, but the stock fell slightly on a bigger-than-expected decline in same-store sales, a key metric for retailers.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped sharply, raising yields to 2.4% from Thursday’s 2.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 34 cents a barrel to $56.83 U.S.
Gold prices faltered $11.50 an ounce to $1,276.00 U.S.
