Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, recovering from the previous session, as materials stocks gained due to a rise in bullion prices.
The TSX recovered 139.70 points to reach noon Friday at 16,721.88
The Canadian dollar backtracked 0.18 cents to 75.93 cents U.S.
The biggest percentage gainer on the TSX was CCL Industries. jumping $3.15, or 5.7%, to $58.68, after the packaging products maker posted upbeat third-quarter earnings.
Intertape Polymer Group rose $1.79, or 8.9%, to $21.97, after multiple brokerages turned bullish on the company.
Altus Group fell $6.13, or 10.7%, the most on the TSX, to $51.37, followed by Fortuna Silver Mines, down 17 cents, or 1.8%, to $9.52, after the miner's third-quarter adjusted profit fell below analysts' estimates.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.99 points, or 1%, to 738.13.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher midday , as health-care sprinted 2.1%, materials jumped 1.8%, and gold was brighter by 1.7%.
Consumer staples scaled back 1.1%, and communications were 0.1% to the bad.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks moved higher on Friday morning as investors bet again on stocks that would benefit from a potential effective vaccine and economic recovery next year.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 275.76 points or 1%, to 29,355.93.
The S&P 500 recovered 31.11 points to 3,568.12
The NASDAQ re-stocked 69.33 points, to 11,778.92.
Shares of Disney gained 2% after reporting better-than-expected results. Shares of Carnival Corp., United Airlines and Boeing rose, capping big gains for the week. Cisco Systems shares were also up on strong quarterly numbers.
Disney gained as the company said it now has 73 million paid subscribers for its streaming service, Disney+. The media giant also reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the quarter.
The Dow entered Friday’s session up 2.7% for the week after Pfizer’s news on Monday that the vaccine it is developing with BioNTech was more than 90% effective in a trial.
This caused a rotation into the cyclical stocks that would benefit from an economic comeback next year. Investors dumped technology shares which have held up during the pandemic.
The pause in the rally this week came as the number of coronavirus cases, and hospitalizations, keeps climbing in the U.S. An analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed average daily new cases are up by at least 5% over the past week in at least 47 states. Hospitalizations, meanwhile, are rising in at least 46 states.
Sentiment on Thursday soured even further after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the country’s economic outlook remained uncertain. "With the virus spreading, the next few months could be challenging," he said.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were unchanged, maintaining yields at Thursday’s 0.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 84 cents to $40.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices advanced $16.50 to $1,889.80
