The Toronto stock market advanced Friday, as traders took advantage of bargains and bought up stocks beaten down by three straight days of losses, after another round of concern about the global recovery.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed the day higher by 52.82 points to end the week at 12,392.18
The Canadian dollar backtracked 0.07 cents to 100.27 cents U.S.
Research In Motion Ltd. shares were up 98 cents, or 7.2%, to $14.67 after its chief executive said the BlackBerry maker needs substantial change after posting a $125-million U.S. quarterly loss.
RIM’s revenue fell $1.4 billion to $4.2 billion as the company loses market share to Apple’s iPhone and devices using Google’s Android operating system.
The TSX energy sector rose as Canadian Natural Resources climbed 70 cents, or 2.2%, to $33.16.
The base metals sector was also higher while copper rose four cents to $3.84 U.S. a pound after losing over nine cents earlier in the week. Teck Resources climbed 88 cents, or 2.5%, to $35.58.
The gold sector gained as Goldcorp Inc. moved 65 cents higher to $44.96.
Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. shares were a cent lower to 32 cents, after it said its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $7.5 million, largely due to an improvement in gross margins from operations and a favourable warrant liability revision.
Financials tailed off, thought TD Bank was ahead 27 cents to $84.90.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that January Gross Domestic Product edged up 0.1% after increasing 0.5% in December. Gains in manufacturing were partly offset by a decline in oil and gas production in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gathered 16.63 points to 1,566.39, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 9.21 points to 420.57
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were up on the day. Information technology climbed 2.8%, while materials strengthened 1.5%, and gold shares gained 1.4%.
The lone laggard was in the financial sector, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rose Friday, the final trading day of a strong quarter, as investors weighed mixed economic reports and a boost in the euro-zone bailout fund.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 66.22 points to 13,212.
The S&P 500 garnered 5.15 points to 1,408.43, but the Nasdaq moved back 3.79 points to 3,091.57
While worries about a growth slowdown have kept investors sidelined lately, it's been a stellar three months for stocks, with all three major U.S. indexes on track to log solid gains.
The Dow is up almost 8%, the S&P 500 is up nearly 12% and the Nasdaq has gained a whopping 19% since New Year's Day.
Each index is within striking distance of milestone levels. The Nasdaq logged its best close since 2000 on Monday and remains near that mark. The S&P 500 and the Dow are close to setting fresh multi-year highs.
The Dow and S&P 500 are on track to have the biggest first-quarter gain since 1998, while the Nasdaq is headed for its best first-quarter performance since 1991, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.
The gains have been driven by improving economic data in the United States and easing concerns about the debt crisis in Europe.
Stocks opened higher as investors focused on personal spending data and news that euro-zone finance officials agreed to raise their financial firewall to €700 billion.
Apple has had an outsized impact on the market this quarter. The stock has driven roughly 15% of the S&P 500's performance so far this year, according to Barclays Capital.
Other top performers this quarter include Sears Holdings, Bank of America and Netflix. The main laggards were Apollo Group, Supervalue and FirstSolar.
Shares of Apple were slightly lower a day after a heavily anticipated report on working conditions at supplier Foxconn's China facilities was released. The report documents dozens of major labour-rights violations, including excessive overtime, unpaid wages and salaries that aren't enough to cover basic living expenses.
Shares of credit card payment processor Global Payments fell 9% amid reports of a major data breach that could involve more than 10 million card numbers.
Representatives from MasterCard and Visa confirmed that a breach has potentially compromised credit and debit card information from all of the major card brands.
On Friday, retailer Finish Line said it earned 81 cents U.S. per share last quarter -- a number in line with analyst estimates. The company reported better-than-expected revenue, but shares tumbled.
Research in Motion shares were higher even after the BlackBerry-maker missed expectations on revenues and earnings. The company said it's considering strategic alternatives, and one director left its board.
On the economic slate, a report released before the opening bell showed that personal spending increased 0.8% in February, topping analyst predictions of a 0.6% jump.
Meanwhile, personal income grew by 0.2%, less than the 0.3% predicted rate.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for March fell to 62.2, down from 64 in February and below expectations of 63. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.
The March edition of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 76.2, from 74.3 in February. Analysts were expecting the index to remain flat.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury plunged, driving yields up to 2.22% from Thursday’s 2.16%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for May delivery moved 36 cents higher to $103.14 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery rose $9.60 to $1,661.80 U.S. an ounce.
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