Stocks in Toronto enjoyed moderate gains – nothing spectacular – except those experienced by telecom giant Rogers Communications, who benefited from upgrades.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 29.9 points to close Friday and the week at 15,484.32
The Canadian dollar backtracked 0.55 cents to 78.41 cents U.S.
Rogers shares jumped $3.39, or 5.9%, to $61.34 and was the biggest percentage gainer on the TSX after at least two brokerages raised their price target on the stock.
Elsewhere among telecoms, Shaw Communications gained 34 cents, or 1.3%, to $26.63.
In the consumer discretionary field, Canadian Tire jumped $1.94, or 1.2%, to $169.79, while Magna International gained $1.16, or 1.6%, to $75.19
Financials gained, too, as Royal Bank picked up 60 cents to $97.23, while Bank of Nova Scotia advanced 49 cents to $76.88.
Among energy concerns, Enbridge was down 56 cents, or 1.4%, to $39.93, Canadian Natural Resources fell 67 cents, or 1.5%, to $44.95
Advantage Oil & Gas fell 13 cents, or 3.2%, to $3.90 and was one of the largest decliner on the index after the oil and gas producer lowered its second-quarter natural gas production forecast.
In the health-care field, Canopy Growth shed 24 cents to $30.01, while Aurora Cannabis dipped 13 cents, or 1.5%, to $8.61.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that retail trade increased 0.4% in February to $49.8 billion, mostly due to higher sales at new car dealers and general merchandise stores.
The Consumer Price Index rose 2.3% on a year-over-year basis in March, following a 2.2% increase in February. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index was up 0.1% in March, after increasing 0.2% in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.86 points to 804.96
The 12 TSX subgroups were split evenly, with telecoms soaring 2.5%, while consumer discretionary popping 0.8%, and financial issues picking up 0.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by energy, acting 0.8% less energetically, while health-care ailed 0.7%, and materials doffed 0.3%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dropped on Friday as a decline in Apple pushed the technology sector lower. A rise in interest rates also kept a lid on equities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 201.95 points to 24,462.94, as Apple as the worst-performing stock in the index.
The S&P 500 lost 22.99 points to 2,670.14, with tech sliding 1.5%. The index also broke below its 50-day moving average, a key technical indicator.
The NASDAQ Composite index docked 91.93 points, or 1.3%, to 7,146.13
Apple shares fell 4.1% after Morgan Stanley said the company's iPhone sales for the June quarter will disappoint Wall Street. The stock had already fallen more than 1% for the week heading into Friday's session.
The decline in Apple offset a 4% gain in General Electric. The industrial giant reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations and reaffirmed its outlook for the rest of 2018. Honeywell also posted stronger-than-expected earnings on Friday. Its stock rose 1.6%.
About 16% of the S&P 500 has released its quarterly results, with 81.5% of those companies posting better-than-expected earnings, according to FactSet. Next week will be the busiest week of the season, with more than a third of the S&P 500 set to report. Some of the companies scheduled to release their results include tech giants Alphabet, Intel and Microsoft.
In economic news, several members of the Federal Reserve's policymaking committee are scheduled to speak Friday, including San Francisco Fed President and Fed Governor Lael Brainard. Investors will look for clues on the central bank's next monetary policy moves.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped, raising yields to 2.96% from Thursday’s 2.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 23 cents a barrel to $68.10 U.S.
Gold prices fell $10.50 to $1,338.30 U.S. an ounce.
