Stocks in Toronto inched back, as investors digested economic data from south of the border.
The S&P/TSX composite index sifted off 4.34 points to open at 15,529.98
The Canadian dollar removed 0.28 cents to 90.34 cents U.S.
Burger King Worldwide Inc is lining up a $7.25-billion loan package to finance its $11.5-billion acquisition of Canadian quick service restaurant chain Tim Hortons, whose stock inched forward 17 cents to $88.28.
CIBC raised the target price on Dollarama to $107 from $100. Dollarama shares gained a dime to open at $94.04.
CIBC raised the target price on Empire Co to $84 from $82. The firm that runs the Sobeys store chain saw its shares pick up 36 cents to $75.92.
The bank then cut the target price on Transat Inc. to $9.25. Transat shares gained seven cents to $8.58.
Canadian small businesses will get $550 million in rebates on their employment insurance premiums over the next two years in order to boost hiring, Finance Minister Joe Oliver said on Thursday.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained back one point to 983.28.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower in the first hour of trading, as information technology moved 0.5% lower, gold lost 0.4% of its luster, and energy backtracked 0.3%.
The four gainers were led by metals and mining, up 0.6%, global base metals, up 0.4%, and health-care, up by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks opened modestly lower Friday as investors found little comfort from a rise in monthly retail sales.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved lower 55.03 points to begin the day at 16,993.97.
The S&P 500 slid 7.47 points to 1,989.98. The NASDAQ dipped 16.79 points to 4,575.02
The S&P 500 index and Dow are set to book their first weekly loss in six weeks.
Darden Restaurants shares rose 2.6% after adjusted first-quarter results and sales exceeded Wall Street’s projections.
Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance shares climbed 16% after the retailer raised its outlook and reported growth in earnings and sales in the second quarter.
Alliance Data Systems Corp. which owns private-label credit cards and runs loyalty programs, said late Thursday it will buy Conversant for $35 U.S. a share in a deal valued at about $2.3 billion U.S.. Shares fell 2.5%.
On the economic front, sales at U.S. retailers rose in August by the largest amount since April, raising confidence in the economic outlook for the second half of the year.
Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% last month, or by 0.3% excluding the auto sector, the Commerce Department said Friday. Retail sales are closely watched because consumer spending is the backbone of the U.S. economy.
Investors will get a look at the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters’s preliminary reading of consumer sentiment in September later on this morning. Analysts expect a reading of 83.8, up from a final August reading of 82.5.
A reading of U.S. business inventories is slated for release at about the same time from the Commerce Department.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, raising yields to 2.60% from Thursday’s 2.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 22 cents to $92.61 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $4.30 to $1,234.70 U.S. an ounce.
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