Stocks in Canada’s biggest market hung onto gains Friday, mostly due to strength supplied by the energy sector, while financial stocks also came out in the green.
The S&P/TSX Composite remained positive 38.11 points to end the day and the week at 14,864.20
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.14 cents at 74.03 cents U.S.
The most influential gainers included Suncor Energy, which rose 63 cents, or 1.5%, to $41.85 and Canadian Natural Resources, up 75 cents, or 1.8%, at $43.13. Encana Corp advanced 43 cents, or 2.8%, to $15.74.
The Canadian energy industry is expected to benefit broadly from the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, who has said he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline that would give Canadian crude better access to U.S. markets.
Diversified miner Teck Resources was among the heaviest weights, down 62 cents, or 2%, to $30.83, while Kinross Gold fell 19 cents, or 4%, to $4.60.
Copper was headed for its sharpest weekly fall in a month, after surging more than 11% last week in its biggest such gain since October 2011 on bets Donald Trump's plan to hike U.S. infrastructure spending and cut taxes would boost the world's top economy.
Gold meanwhile hit its lowest since late May as the U.S. dollar surged to a near 14-year peak.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International rose two cents – off its highs of the day -- to $24.32. The stock had fallen sharply on Thursday before recovering after a former executive was arrested.
Financials moved higher as Manulife Financial took on two cents to $22.95, while Royal Bank of Canada gained 38 cents to $87.21.
Among consumer staples, which finished on the downside, Metro dipped $1.03, or 2.4%, to $41.14, while George Weston Limited fell 14 cents to $108.24.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index rose 1.5% on a year-over-year basis in October, following a 1.3% gain in September. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.2% in October, matching the gain in
September.
Moreover, a source close to the talks has said the leaders of Mexico and Canada will hold talks this weekend on the potential impact a
Trump presidency could have on the NAFTA trade pact.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.05 points to end Friday at 746.49
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, as energy bolted 1.3%, financials gained 0.6%, and real-estate surged 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by materials, down 0.7%, consumer staples, off 0.6%, and gold, sliding 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed slightly lower on Friday, led by health-care, as investors digested Federal Reserve officials' remarks on monetary policy and falling oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrials tucked lower 36.26 points to close the week at 18,867.56, with Merck leading decliners and Cisco Systems the biggest riser.
The S&P 500 fell 5.22 points at 2,181.90, with health-care leading eight sectors lower and energy the top advancer.
The NASDAQ composite index slumped 12.46 points to 5,321.51
All three indexes posted weekly gains, with the NASDAQ up more than 1.7% for the week.
Several Fed officials spoke on Friday, including Kansas City Fed President Esther George. In a speech, she said the U.S. economy would benefit from the Federal Reserve raising rates sooner rather than later.
Earlier, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he is leaning towards supporting a rate hike next month and argued on Friday that the real question now is the Fed's rate path in 2017.
Market expectations for a rate hike in December were above 90% Friday morning.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note were lower, raising yields to 2.34% from Thursday’s 2.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices recovered 19 cents to $45.61 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell $9.30 to $1,207.60 U.S. an ounce.
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