Equities in Toronto fell on Friday, mirroring losses in global equities as tensions between the United States and Iran kept investors on the sidelines.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index let go of 37.71 points to greet noon Friday at 16,537.12
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.13 cents to 75.68 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of New Gold, which jumped six cents, or 6.5%, to 99 cents, followed by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, which rose 13 cents, or 3.3%, to $4.06.
Canopy Growth Co fell $4.52, or 7.8%, the most on the TSX, to $53.15, after the company posted wider-than-expected quarterly loss.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported retail sales enjoyed a third straight month of growth, edging up 0.1% to $51.5 billion in April.
The agency adds, excluding sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations, retail sales were down 0.1%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 1.52 points at 591.74
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups were negative approaching noon, with health-care ailing 3.7%, consumer staples down 1.3%, and gold skidding 0.8%
The three gainers were consumer discretionary stocks, up 0.2%, while financials and industrials each eked up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday as Wall Street looked to end a strong week on a high note.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came back from a listless morning in a big way, gaining 114.06 points by noon ET to 26,867.23, and was on its way to post a record closing high.
The S&P 500 forged ahead 3.65 points to 2,957.83,
The NASDAQ Composite eked up 1.85 points to 8,053.19
The Dow and S&P 500 were both up more than 2% for the week, while the NASDAQ rose 3.4%.
The major stock indexes jumped to their session highs after Dow Jones reported that Vice President Mike Pence would postpone a China policy address amid “positive signs” on trade. Equities had traded slightly lower prior to the news.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, raising yields to 2.06% from Thursday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 51 cents to $57.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices improved three dollars to $1,399.90 U.S. an ounce.
