Markets in Canada’s biggest centre shrugged off early gains Friday and finished on the negative side with losses in gold, materials and health-care issues weighing things down the most.
The S&P/TSX Composite faded 58.72 points to close the day and the week at 14,614.77. Still, the index was on track for a gain of close to 1%, on a short week, with markets shuttered last Monday for Thanksgiving Day.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.32 cents to 76.07 cents U.S.
Gold stocks proved the biggest loser on the day, as heavyweight Barrick Gold shed 55 cents, or 2.6%, to $20.60, while Goldcorp dumped 58 cents, or 3%, to $18.81.
Among health-care stocks, Valeant Pharmaceuticals skidded 93 cents, or 3.1%, to $29.13, while Concordia International plummeted 53 cents, or 9.9%, to $4.82.
Utilities proved the strong man among the sectors that registered gains, and appropriately, Fortis Inc. chugged ahead 99 cents, or 2.4%, to $41.95. Hydro One gained 15 cents to $24.50.
Consumer staples stocks gathered some strength as well, as Metro Inc. picked up 14 cents to $41.60, while Loblaw Companies moved ahead 14 cents to $66.52.
September producer prices in China unexpectedly rose for the first time in nearly five years, while consumer inflation also beat expectations, easing some concerns about the health of the world's second-biggest economy.
ON BAY STREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 4.48 points to 773.02
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the session, as gold dumped 2.6%, materials were poorer 1.3%, and health-care surrendered 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by utilities, up 0.8%, while consumer staples and information technology each climbed 0.3%.
ON WALL STREET
Equities south of the border closed mostly higher on Friday as investors digested a speech from a key Federal Reserve official while parsing through strong bank earnings and economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended Friday with a gain of 39.44 points to 18,138.38, with Goldman Sachs leading advancers and McDonald's the top decliner.
The S&P 500 eked higher 0.43 points to 2,132.98, with financials leading eight sectors higher and utilities lagging.
The NASDAQ composite index inched up 0.83 points to 5,214.16. The three major indexes fell this week.
JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup all posted better-than-expected quarterly results, beating estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
One expert commented that earnings season has gotten off to a good start. Of the 34 S&P 500 companies that had reported as of Friday morning, 79% had beaten Wall Street estimates for earnings per share.
More than 80 S&P components are scheduled to report next week, including Bank of America, streaming giant Netflix, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and United Continental.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank might want to let inflation run hotter for a while.
She pointed out that the economy has seen an unusual tendency of weak demand against strong supply, making it reasonable "to ask whether it might be possible to reverse these adverse supply-side effects by temporarily running a 'high-pressure economy,' with robust aggregate demand and a tight labour market."
In economic news, U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in September, matching expectations. Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand increased 0.3% after being unchanged in August.
Other data released Friday included October consumer sentiment, which came in at 87.9, well below an estimate of 92. Meanwhile, business inventories rose 0.2% in August.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, boosting yields to 1.8% from Thursday’s 1.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were down 10 cents at $50.34 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices skidded $5.40 to $1,252.20 U.S. an ounce.
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