TSX Buoyant in First Hour

Equities in Canada’s biggest market seesawed on Friday as the financial and industrial groups rose, offsetting a decline in gold mining shares and in Sierra Wireless Inc after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss after the bell on Thursday.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index recovered slightly Friday morning from Thursday’s sharp loss, picking up 33.81 points, to open at 15,099.42.

The Canadian dollar dwindled 0.05 cents at 79.37 cents U.S.

Sierra Wireless shares slumbered $3.77, or 16.3%, to $19.31.

Canadian police arrested two people on Thursday at a protest over Kinder Morgan Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion after the protesters began blocking highway traffic and equipment.

Kinder shares docked seven cents to $17.25.

Barclays raised the price target on Canada Goose Holdings to $50.00 from $49.00. Goose shares gained $1.08, or 2.7%, to $41.23.

Barclays raised the price target on MEG Energy to $8.00 from $7.00. MEG shares faded three cents to $5.62.

RBC raised the price target on Suncor Energy to $52.00 from $49.00. Shares in the oil giant improved 69 cents, or 1.7%, to $42.13.

Regarding things macroeconomic,, Statistics Canada reported the economy lost 88,000 jobs in January, bumping the unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage points to 5.9%.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.38 points to 817.81

Six of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive starting out on Friday, with information technology and energy each surging 0.7%, while utilities hiked 0.5%.

The five laggards were led by gold, down 0.8%, materials, swooning 0.2%, and health-care, off 0.1%.

Financials were flat at the open.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stocks were trading higher Friday, a day after both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 fell into correction territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial regained 156.58 points, to begin the week’s last session at 24,017.04, with Boeing and Apple leading the charge.

The S&P 500 recouped 23.1 points to 2,604.10, with utilities and information technology outperforming the broader market.

The NASDAQ picked up 61.81 points to 6,838.97. Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook all traded more than 2% higher.

E-commerce giant Amazon wasn't helping things. The company is gearing up to launch a delivery service for businesses, pitting Jeff Bezos's logistical prowess against carriers like FedEx and UPS, the Wall Street Journal reported early in the day.

Shares of UPS and FedEx were down 1.7% and 1% respectively.

Other stocks that have struggled this week include 3M, American Express and Exxon Mobil, down more than 10% as oil prices continue to slide.

Progress on a government spending bill also made headlines on the week's final day of trading. President Donald Trump signed a massive spending deal into law after both houses of Congress approved the bill early Friday morning.

Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slid, raising yields to 2.86% from Thursday’s 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices slipped 86 cents a barrel to $60.29 U.S.

Gold prices retreated three dollars to $1,316.00 U.S. an ounce.