The Toronto stock market was positive Friday as traders looked to resource stocks beaten down earlier in the week amid a new round of concern about the pace of the global economic recovery.
The S&P/TSX index gained 10.98 points to begin the final session of a turbulent week at 12,007.32
The Canadian dollar gained 0.04 cents at 97.52 cents U.S.
Commodity prices were mixed Friday as June bullion gained, taking the gold sector ahead. The component is by far the worst performing group on the TSX, down about 37% year to date.
Barrick Gold Corp., which has plunged about a third in value over the last two weeks, was up 63 cents to $19.07 while Goldcorp Inc. advanced 39 cents to $28.97.
The base metals group was ahead while copper remained stuck at 18-month lows, with the May contract down seven cents to $3.14 U.S. a pound. HudBay Minerals rose 10 cents to $7.90.
The energy sector was slightly lower while Suncor Energy slipped 16 cents to $28.17.
Consumer staples led TSX decliners with soft drink maker Cott Corp. down 16 cents to $10.85.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the Consumer Price Index rose 1.0% in the 12 months to March, following a 1.2% increase in February, mostly due to falling gasoline prices.
The agency also said that wholesale sales were unchanged at $48.8 billion in February, after rising 0.5% in January
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 4.42 points to at 937.36
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive soon after the opening bell, with gold leading the way, up 1.6%, materials, down 0.8%, and consumer discretionaries ahead 0.3%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by information technology, down 1%, energy off 0.5%, and consumer staples, down 0.2%.
Industrials were unchanged in the first hour of trading.
ON WALLSTREET
The fear gripping the city of Boston showed few signs of spilling into the stock market Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 44.13 points to begin Friday at 14,493.
The S&P 500 index moved up 7.07 points to 1,548.68. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite recovered 25.61 points to 3,191.97
Traders say it appears to be a relatively quiet trading day so far, as traders were glued to the latest events in Boston, which remained in lockdown mode as police hunt for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
Concerns about the health of the sector pushed down the Dow. Shares of IBM dropped more than 6% Friday following weak earnings. IBM has the biggest weighting in the Dow.
Investors had a slew of corporate earnings to digest after the bell Thursday and early Friday. Investors said these results paint a mixed picture of the health of corporate America.
McDonald's shares dropped after the Big Mac maker noted a decline in same-store sales.
Honeywell reported an increase in first quarter earnings, pushing up its stock price by 1%.
General Electric reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, though the conglomerate ended the quarter with a big backlog of equipment and services. Shares fell more than 2%.
While IBM fell drastically, other tech stocks fared better. Microsoft got a big boost in its latest earnings report from strong Windows 8 sales, pushing up its stock 2%.
Google earnings topped estimates, even as the search giant faces challenges with how to make money off mobile ads and its Motorola smartphone unit. The company's stock rose nearly 2% before the markets opened.
Chipolte's share price rose 5% after reporting earnings on Thursday that showed increases in revenue, income and same-store sales.
Dell's stock fell more than 2% following reports that Blackstone dropped its bid to buy the computer company
Analysts expect earnings for S&P 500 companies to rise by 1.85%, according to S&P Capital IQ. So far, 91 S&P 500 companies have reported, with 64 beating forecasts, 19 missing and eight reported to be in line.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury stumbled, raising yields to 1.70% from Thursday’s 1.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up 14 cents to $87.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $9.30 to $1,401.70 U.S. an ounce
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