The Toronto stock market climbed higher near midday Friday as key commodities rose, while U.S. markets gave back some of the enthusiastic gains of recent sessions.
The S&P TSX index took 37.63 points to greet noon at 12,837.40
The Canadian dollar was up a quarter of a cent at 98.08 cents U.S.
Energy stocks chugged higher, the biggest percentage gain registered by Crew Energy, hiking 6.6% to $6.94. Imperial Oil gained 1.5% to $43.19.
In the consumer discretionary section, Thomson Reuters galloped ahead 3.4% to $33.07
Among tech stocks, BlackBerry remained volatile, losing 1.8% to $15.20
On the economic slate, statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed national home sales activity edged back down on a month-over-month basis in February after rising in January.
CREA reported that national home sales declined 2.1% from January to February. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity came in 15.8% below levels in February 2012.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was down 1.98 points at 1,112.81.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive to break for lunch, led by energy, up 1%, consumer discretionaries, up 0.6%, and telecoms, ahead 0.4%.
The four laggards were information technology, off 0.5%, global base metals, down 0.2%, metals and mining and consumer staples, each down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The mood among investors was slightly less festive Friday as investors questioned whether the rally in stocks has run out of steam.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell back 27.85 points from Thursday’s all-time high, to 14,511.30
The S&P 500 index shrank 1.89 points to 1,561.34. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite moved down 5.41 points to 3,253.82.
Bank of America shares rose after it announced plans to repurchase $10.5 billion U.S. in common stock and preferred shares. Wells Fargo said it would increase its quarterly dividend payment to 30 cents U.S. per share dividend starting in the second quarter.
JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs both dipped after the Fed approved their capital plans, but with conditions attached. SharesBB&T Corp, one of only two banks to have its capital plans rejected, also fell.
Shares of Carnival Cruise Lines fell after another the company reported a weak earnings outlook. In addition, another of its ships experienced technical difficulties, the latest in a growing list of woes for the company.
Trading could be choppy since Friday is the last day for closing out certain options, known as "quadruple witching." That's when four types of contracts expire -- those tied to market index futures, market index options, stock options and stock futures. While many traders try to settle out those contracts ahead of expiration, there is often some volatility on the actual witching day.
The U.S. Senate accused JPMorgan Chase of intentionally misleading investors about the so-called London Whale trades, which ultimately led to losses of $6 billion U.S. for the bank. Former chief investment officer Ina Drew and other executives are testifying before a Senate panel Friday morning.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said the consumer price index rose 0.7% last month. CPI was expected to have risen 0.5%, according to a Briefing.com consensus. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% last month, as expected. On an annual basis, the inflation rate is 2%.
Industrial production rose 0.7% in February, after being flat the month before, according to the Federal Reserve. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting a 0.4% rise.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 2.00% from Thursday’s 2.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 41 cents to $93.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained three dollars to $1,593.70 U.S. an ounce.
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