The TSX slipped Friday, as descending mining and energy shares cancelled out gains in health-care and tech stocks.
The S&P/TSX composite index skidded 40.34 points to close out the week at 13,433.49
The Canadian dollar shed 0.38 cents at 74.90 cents U.S.
Gold stocks took a knock, as Barrick Gold lost 4.7% to $9.57, and Goldcorp shed 2.7% to $15.75.
In the metals and mining sector, Teck Resources doffed 4.3% to $5.80, while Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. sank 2.8% to $26.67.
Trevali Mining was the most actively traded stock, actually gaining half a cent, or 1.7% to 30.5 cents, on 10.7 million shares.
Energy stocks also did not fare well as Canadian Natural Resources lost 0.3% to $32.95, while EnCana slid 3.9% to $10.31.
Health-care stocks had a decent day of it, though, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals climbing $9.27, or 8.3% to $121.06.
In the real-estate sector, Brookfield Asset Management gained 0.6% to $45.82.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the Consumer Price Index gathered 1.0% in the 12 months to October, matching the increase in September. Monthly, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in October, following a 0.2% decrease in September.
Meantime, retail sales dipped 0.5% in September, to $43.3 billion, after four months of rises. Sales were down in eight of 11 sub-sectors, representing 60% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 2.3 points to 520.65.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups remained higher, with health-care sprinting 2.1%, real-estate better by 0.8%, and information technology 0.7% to the good.
The five laggards were weighed most by gold, down 3.4%, materials, sinking 2.5%, and metals and mining weakening 2.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
American stocks closed higher Friday, helped by gains in retail stocks, as investors looked to central banker comments on the trajectory of monetary policy.
The Dow Jones industrial average remained positive 91.06 points to close the day and week at 17,823.81. The index closed flat for the year after briefly joining the S&P 500 and NASDAQ in positive territory for 2015.
Nike was one of the prime movers behind this climb, gaining 5.4% to $132.60 U.S. Some recovery in UnitedHealth shares and a rise in IBM also contributed to gains.
As for the S&P 500, it gained 7.95 points to 2,089.19, ending the week with gains of 3.3%, its best week since the one ended Oct. 24, 2014.
The NASDAQ index grew 28.89 points to 5,102.52.
Nike, for its part, increased its dividend by 14%, announced a two-for-one stock split, and a $12-billion U.S. stock buyback program.
UnitedHealth climbed $2.33, or 2.1%, $112.96 U.S., while IBM prospered $1.70, or 1.2%, to $138.44.
Ross Stores and other major retailers were among the big guns in the retail sector. Ross came in three cents above estimates with quarterly profit of 53 cents U.S. per share, with revenue just above forecasts and comparable store sales rising 3%.
Ross shares popped $4.64, or 10%, to close at $50.84.
Foot Locker earnings came in five cents above forecasts with adjusted quarterly profit of $1 per share. Revenue was also above estimates, and a same-store sales increase of 8.7% was well above analysts' estimates of a 6.2% rise for the athletic apparel and footwear retailer.
Foot Locker shares rocketed $3.47, or 5.6%, to $65.00 U.S.
Abercrombie & Fitch earned 37 cents U.S. per share for its latest quarter, well above estimates of 22 cents U.S. Revenue also beat estimates, and although Abercrombie's same-store sales fell 1% during the quarter, that was smaller than the 2.3% drop anticipated by analysts.
Abercrombie shares hiked $4.88, or 25%, to $24.37 U.S.
Ahead of the open, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said his bank expressed interest in stimulating inflation to bring the moribund euro-zone economy out of its lethargy.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped, raising yields to 2.26% from Thursday’s 2.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices declined 15 cents a barrel to $40.39 U.S.
Gold prices fell $4.54 to $1,077.67 U.S. an ounce.
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