Canada's main stock index was higher on Friday, as the heavily-weighted financial and materials stocks rose, offsetting losses among energy names.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 54.97 points to begin Friday at 14,437.75.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.08 cents to 76.99 cents U.S.
Athabasca Oil Corp said it would cut its capital expenditure by nearly 5% as oil prices stay low. The company said it would now spend $291 million this year, down from its earlier estimate of $305 million due to a reduction in planned thermal oil expenditure.
The company's net loss narrowed to $29 million, or seven cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30 from $56.8 million, or 14 cents, a year earlier.
Athabasca shares fell one cent to $1.47.
Canadian Oil Sands reported a quarterly loss, hurt by fall in crude oil prices and deferred tax expenses due to an increase in the provincial corporate tax rate in Alberta. The company also cut its 2015 capital spending forecast to $422 million from $451 million.
The company reported a loss of $128 million, or 26 cents per share. The company posted a profit of $176 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.
Oil Sands shares dipped 16 cents, or 2.1%, to $7.46.
Enbridge Inc posted a 54% rise in quarterly adjusted profit on Friday, helped by increased throughput as producers moved more oil by pipes than on rail. The Calgary-based company's adjusted earnings rose to $505 million, or 60 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $328 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier.
Enbridge shares jumped $1.41, or 2.5%, to $57.70
Maple Leaf Foods Inc reported a smaller loss due to a steep fall in restructuring costs as the company's multi-year program to upgrade its meat operations nears completion. Restructuring costs fell about 64% to $7.3 million in the second quarter ended June 30, the company said on Thursday.
Net loss from continuing operations narrowed to $7.5 million, or five cents per share, from $39.5 million, or 28 cents per share, a year earlier.
Maple Leaf shares stepped back 51 cents, or 2.2%, to $23.18.
TransCanada Corp reported a 19.6% rise in comparable profit, helped mainly by higher earnings from its Canadian Mainline and Keystone pipelines. Comparable earnings rose to $397 million, or 56 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $332 million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier.
TransCanada shares advanced 26 cents to $50.63.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that the economy sank yet again in May, for the fifth straight time, with Gross Domestic Product down 0.2% in May.
The decline in May was mostly a result of contractions in manufacturing, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction as well as wholesale trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.37 points to 591.67
The 14 TSX subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers, as gold shone 2.3% brighter, materials picked up 2%, and metals and mining took on 1.9%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by consumer discretionaries, down 0.7%, telecoms, scaling back 0.6%, and energy, 0.5% less energetic.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mixed on Friday, the final day of trade for July, as investors digested data and soft energy earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average faded 29.53 points to 17,716.45, with Coca-Cola leading advancers and Exxon Mobil the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 ducked back 1.13 points to 2,107.50, with utilities leading six sectors higher and energy the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ index gained 3.99 points to 5,132.77
Exxon Mobil and Chevron both posted earnings that missed expectations. Exxon posted the lowest profit in six years, while Chevron posted the worst quarterly profit in nearly 13 years.
In other individual stock movements, LinkedIn fell more than 9% after the firm reported that costs rose. The professional social network did beat estimates on both the top and bottom line.
In economic news, the Chicago PMI came in at 54.7 for July, the highest since January.
The final University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey came in at 93.1 for July.
The employment cost index disappointed analysts with a rise of 0.2%, the smallest increase in 33 years and below expectations of
0.6%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were up, lowering yields to 2.20% from Thursday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subtracted 36 cents a barrel to $48.16 U.S.
Gold prices gained $8.10 to $1,096.80 U.S. an ounce.
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