Canada's main stock index dropped on Friday as another slide in oil prices pulled down energy shares, while latest domestic data showed that economic growth was in line with expectations in the third quarter.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained negative 46.62 points to greet noon Friday at 15,147.42
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.15 cents at 75.17 U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Sleep Country, which jumped 75 cents, or 3.5%, after announcing a deal to buy online mattress retailer Endy.
Second biggest gainer was ECN Capital, which rose 18 cents, or 5.2%, to $3.54, after announcing a share buyback program.
Precision Drilling fell 8.5 cents or 2.8%, the most on the TSX, to $2.99. The second biggest decliner was Eldorado Gold, which was down a penny, or 1.3%, to 75 cents.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported Friday morning that gross domestic product grew 0.5% in the third quarter, following a 0.7% increase in the second quarter.
Real GDP edged down 0.1% in September, following seven consecutive months of growth.
The agency’s industrial product price index rose 0.2% in October, mostly driven by higher prices for meat, fish, and dairy products.
The raw materials price index fell 2.4%, mainly as a result of lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 2.94 points to pause for lunch at 588.18
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups stayed lower, as consumer staples withered 1%, energy lost 0.8%, gold dulled in price 0.6%
The four gainers were led by industrials, stronger by 0.5%, information technology, up 0.4%, and consumer discretionary stocks, better by 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell slightly on Friday as investors looked ahead to a key meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off its lows of the morning, and approached down 19.52 points to 25,319.32, led by losses Goldman Sachs shares.
The S&P 500 remained higher 5.77 points, on the other hand, to 2,743.58. The NASDAQ gained 17.12 points to 7,290.21
Shares of World Wrestling Entertainment traded 3.8% higher after J.P. Morgan Chase upgraded them to overweight from netural, noting the company's valuation is attractive compared to industry peers.
Friday also marked the last trading day of November. Barring a major selloff on Friday, two of the major indexes are on pace to post solid gains for the month. The Dow is up 0.9% in November, while the S&P 500 has risen 1%.
The Dow is also on pace to register its biggest one-week gain since late 2016, while the S&P 500 is on track to post its largest weekly rise since February.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to have dinner on Saturday and are expected to discuss trade issues between the two countries. Investors are eagerly looking ahead to the dinner as they have fretted over the impact of U.S. and China tariffs on the global economy and corporate earnings.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Friday he expected the meeting to be a "success," raising hope that a trade truce between the world's largest economies could be struck.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose sharply, thus lowering yields to 3.02% from Thursday’s 3.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped two cents to $51.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $3.90 to $1,226.50 U.S. an ounce.
