Stocks in Canada’s main index concluded a short week with a large gain, mostly propelled by energy and tech issues.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index hiked 130.28 points Friday, to end the day and the week at 15,638.45
The Canadian dollar gained 0.34 cents to 78.99 cents U.S.
Markets on both sides of the border were shuttered Monday for Family and Presidents’ Day.
The energy group gained, with Pembina Pipeline Corp climbing $1.48, or 3.6%, to $42.46, after reporting quarterly earnings late on Thursday.
Enerplus shares gained $1.18, or 8.9%, to $14.50.
Among tech stalwarts, BlackBerry picked 73 cents, or 4.8%, to $15.86, while Constellation Software took on $8.06, or 1%, to $840.90.
Resource stocks had a fine day, too, with Agnico Eagle Mines advancing 20 cents to $51.39, while First Quantum Minerals galloped 46 cents, or 2.2%, to $21.10.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Winpak Ltd, which rose $5.35, or 11.8%, to $50.55, while the largest decliner was Maxar Technologies Ltd, down $10.04, or 13.4%, to $64.72, after it reported earnings after the bell on Thursday that missed estimates.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada announced that the consumer price index rose 1.7% on a year-over-year basis in January, following a 1.9% increase in December.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index was up 0.5% in January, after increasing 0.1% in December.
Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees rang in at $993 in December, little changed from the previous month, but up 2.3%, compared with December 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 3.1 points to 826.09
Industrials proved the only loser among 12 TSX subgroups, and only 0.02% at that. Everything else was in high gear, as energy perked 1.8%, information technology popped 1.5%, and materials improved 1.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks aimed for the stars on Friday as interest rates slipped further from a four-year high, pushing the major indexes higher for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 347.51 points, or 1.4%, to end the week at 25,309.99, with Intel as the best-performing stock.
The S&P 500 added 43.34 points, or 1.6%, to 2,747.30, with utilities and energy as the best-performing sectors. The broad index also broke above its 50-day moving average — a key technical level — in afternoon trade.
Entering Friday's session, the Dow and S&P 500 were on track to close down by 1% for the week. The Dow finished the week with gains of 0.4%, while the S&P jumped 0.6%
The NASDAQ Composite leaped 127.3 points, or 1.8%, to 7,337.39, as shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all rose. For the week, the index rose 1.4%.
In corporate news, General Mills agreed to buy natural pet food company Blue Buffalo for about $8 billion in cash. Shares of Blue Buffalo surged more than 17%.
Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped nearly 10.5% after reporting quarterly earnings and strong forward guidance.
The Fed released its monetary policy report, which said the central bank sees the U.S. economy past full employment, albeit with only "moderate" wage gains. The report serves as a blueprint for new Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony next week.
Investors also digested out for speeches from two voting members of the Fed's policymaking committee. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said inflation should sustain 2% over the next couple of years.
Meanwhile, New York Fed President William Dudley spoke earlier, saying the central bank's balance sheet drawdown is going smoothly. The Fed's balance sheet ballooned to more than $4 trillion following the Financial Crisis.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.87% from Thursday’s 2.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 78 cents a barrel to $63.55 U.S.
Gold prices sank two dollars to $1,330.70 U.S. an ounce.
