Canada's main stock index settled into the red by midday Friday, led by the materials sector as gold prices surged to a one-month high, a day after the index posted its worst day since September 2016 on fears of a global trade war.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dipped 40.78 points to greet noon Friday at 15,359.15
The Canadian dollar gained 0.43 cents at 77.76 cents U.S.
Fears of retaliatory trade tariffs sent investors scrambling for safe assets such as gold, lifting stocks of miners Barrick Gold and Goldcorp by more than 2%.
The top percentage gainer on the TSX was Canopy Growth, up 6.6% to $33.79, while the largest decliner was Ivanhoe Mines, down 2.9% to $2.85
Among the most active Canadian stocks by volume were Aurora Cannabis, up 5.6% to $10.17 and the aforementioned Canopy Growth
The financial sector was down after data showed inflation jumped to a three-year high in February, raising the prospect of an interest rate hike.
The Bank of Canada has a 2% target for inflation, and has raised interest rates three times since July 2017, with markets expecting another hike by this July.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the cost of living rose 2.2% on a year-over-year basis in February, following a 1.7% increase in January.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index was up 0.2% in February after increasing 0.5% in January.
Elsewhere, retail sales increased 0.3% in January to $49.9 billion. General merchandise stores were the largest contributors to the increase
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed afloat 7.54 points to 824.62
Six of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by noon, as financials dropped 1%, consumer staples lost 0.8%, and information technology fell 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by gold, shining 2.8% brighter, health-care, stronger 2.2%, and materials, up 1.3%.
Consumer discretionary stocks were unchanged midday.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday, but were on track to post a weekly decline as Wall Street mulled over China's response to U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average swooned 95.98 points to pause for lunch Friday at 23,861.91, despite strong performance from Nike
The S&P 500 slumped 16.36 points to 2,627.33, with utilities outperforming
The NASDAQ composite Index slouched 60.08 points to 7,106.59
The major averages were still on track for sharp weekly losses. The Dow and S&P 500 are both down more than 3.5% t week to date, while the NASDAQ has fallen more than 4%
In corporate news, shares of Dow-component Nike rose more than 3% after the apparel company reported better-than-expected earnings. Nike got a boost from sales in Greater China, which rose 24% during the third quarter.
Cisco Systems gained 2.5% after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its "conviction" list, noting they see the stock as a defensive play in a volatile market.
Donald Trump pressed ahead with long-promised anti-China charges on Thursday. The U.S. president signed an executive memorandum that will impose tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports.
In response, China's commerce ministry proposed a list of 128 U.S. products as potential retaliation targets, according to a statement on its website posted Friday morning. Beijing's ministry said it will take measures against the 128 U.S. goods in two stages if it cannot reach an agreement with Washington, adding that it could also take legal action under World Trade Organization rules.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note refused to budge, keeping yields at Thursday’s 2.83%.
Oil prices leaped $1.17 a barrel to $65.47 U.S.
Gold prices strengthened $21.00 to $1,348.40 U.S. an ounce.
