Stocks in Toronto tenaciously hung onto daily gains as Friday’s closing bell sounded, mostly on the strength of real-estate and utility stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite remained higher 31.56 to close Friday and the week at 15,275.61
The index headed for a slight slip on the week after notching a 1.7% hike in the prior week.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.33 cents to 74.94 cents U.S.
Among real-estate plays, Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corporation carved out gains of six cents to $14.05, while Brookfield Asset Management strengthened 33 cents to $44.63 in its Class A Limited voting shares.
Among utility issues, Hydro One moved higher 32 cents, or 1.4%, to $32.54, while Fortis Inc. added 16 cents to $40.54.
Gold shone brighter, as Barrick Gold climbed 27 cents, or 1.5%, to $18.95, while Iamgold Corporation took on 13 cents, or 3%, to $4.42.
Health-care, however, took the biggest bruises on the day, as Canopy Growth Corporation dipped 25 cents, or 2.4%, to $10.04, while Concordia International handed back two cents to $2.90.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that foreigners increased their holdings in Canadian instruments to $15.8 billion in October, most of them debt securities, while Canadians added $2.1 billion of foreign securities to their holdings, the lion’s share of them U.S. corporate instruments.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 2.43 points to 732.82
The 12 TSX subgroups were neatly split between gainers and losers, as real-estate powered ahead 1.5%, utilities were better by 1.3%, and gold was 1% to the good.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most heavily by health-care, suffering 2.8%, while information technology and telecoms each demurred 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Friday following some renewed concerns of geopolitical tension.
The Dow Jones Industrials slid 8.97 points into the red to close the week at 19,843.27, as UnitedHealth contributed the most to gains in the Dow
The S&P 500 doffed 3.96 points to 2,258.07. Real estate and utilities rose more than 1%, to lead S&P 500 advancers
The NASDAQ composite index subtracted 19.69 points to 5,437.16
Media reports came out in late morning trade that a Chinese Navy warship has seized an underwater drone deployed by an American oceanographic vessel in international waters in the South China Sea, triggering a formal diplomatic protest from the United States and a demand for its return.
Economically speaking, U.S. housing starts fell a more-than-expected 18.7% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million units. Building permits declined 4.7%.
Treasury prices for the 10-year note ducked lower, raising yields back to Thursday’s 2.6%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.07 to $51.97 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained six dollars to $1,135.80 U.S. an ounce.
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