Canadian stocks were fairly flat in Friday’s first trading hour, after U.S. President Barack Obama stoked fears of another drawn-out conflict in Iraq by authorizing targeted air strikes against Islamist rebels.
The S&P/TSX composite index took on 13.35 points to open Friday at 15,131/78.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.38 cents at 91.16 cents U.S.
Magna International reported a higher-than-expected rise in quarterly profit and raised its full-year sales forecast, helped by strong demand in North America and continued recovery in Europe. Magna shares triumphed $3.37, or 2.9%, to $118.56.
TMX Group, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, said it plans to launch a new business to allow capital raising and the trading of securities of privately owned entities. TMX shares gained 51 cents to $55.30.
Tekmira Pharmaceutical said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had modified its clinical hold status on Tekmira's experimental Ebola treatment to enable its potential use in humans infected with the virus. Tekmira shares spiked $2.69, or 17.2%, to $18.30.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Air Canada to $13.00 from $12.00. Shares in the Maple Leaf airline rebounded 14 cents, after taking a pounding Thursday, to $8.64.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that overall employment was unchanged in July, as gains in part-time work were offset by losses in full-time. The agency also said a decline in the number of folks searching for work pushed the unemployment rate down 0.1 percentage points to 7.0%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 0.30 points to 995.95
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, with health-care stocks 1.2% haler, consumer discretionary and gold issues up 1.1% each.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by information technology, down 0.6%, financials, sliding 0.4%, and consumer staples, down 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Despite a raft of geopolitical uncertainty, stocks were clinging to small gains at the end of a volatile week.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 13.52 points to 16,381.79
The S&P 500 inched up 2.08 points to 1,911.65. The NASDAQ composite squeaked up 1.76 points to 4,336.73. However, all three indices are still down for the week and the month of August so far.
Shares for yoga clothier Lululemon Athletica jumped after founder Dennis Wilson agreed to sell half his stake, of $845 million U.S. in stock, to private equity firm Advent.
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals said Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will allow trials of an experimental treatment for the Ebola virus to move forward, a process dubbed "fast tracking". Shares soared 20%.
Shares in 21st Century Fox were down in early trading. Rupert Murdoch's media company announced this week it was dropping its bid to buy Time Warner and shares had jumped by about 6%.
Zynga shares sank after the maker of games for social media applications reported a loss for its second quarter.
Tesla was down slightly despite resolving a trademark dispute that threatened its growth in China.
Sotheby's is among the key companies reporting second quarter earnings before the opening bell. The auction house has been under pressure from Dan Loeb's hedge fund Third Point to boost profits.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 2.39% from Thursday’s 2.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 24 cents to $97.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.10 to $1,313.60 U.S. an ounce.
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