Stocks in Canada’s largest market inched higher in early trade on Friday and were on track for a 0.6% gain on the week, as industrial, technology and telecom gains offset losses for energy stocks as oil prices fell.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 5.54 points to open Friday at 15,621.06,
The Canadian dollar eased 0.15 cents at 76.24 cents U.S.
Information technology stocks proved the strongest, though all-star BlackBerry ditched seven cents to $9.51.
In health-care, Valeant Pharmaceuticals tacked on four cents to $17.90, and Canopy Growth shares were unchanged at $10.00
In the telecom sector, Shaw Communications gained six cents to $28.31, while Rogers Communications galloped 71 cents, or 1.3%, to $56.75.
Materials were fairly listless, as Agrium Inc. fell 94 cents to $138.94, while Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan slid 16 cents to $25.05.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 2.5 points to 803.81
Seven of the 12 subgroups were higher in the early going, with information technology soaring 0.7%, while health-care and telecoms advanced 0.3% each.
The five laggards were weighed most by materials and real-estate, each down 0.1%, and energy, shrinking 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell slightly on Friday as investors parsed through key economic data and corporate earnings, with President Donald Trump meeting with the U.K. prime minister.
The Dow Jones Industrials removed 9.01 points from Thursday’s all-time high to 20,091.90, with Chevron contributing the most losses and Microsoft the most gains.
The S&P 500 dropped 3.05 points to 2,293.63, with energy lagging as Chevron led decliners within the sector after reporting weak quarterly results.
The NASDAQ composite index faded 8.14 points to 5,647.03
In corporate news, earnings season continued, with Colgate-Palmolive, American Airlines Group, AbbVie and General Dynamics all reporting before the bell. Tech giants Alphabet, Microsoft and Intel all reported after the close on Thursday.
Trump, who was sworn in last week, has signed a series of executive orders on matters ranging from immigration to infrastructure spending. The president was scheduled to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday, with a news conference to follow at around 1 p.m. ET.
Gross domestic product increased at a 1.9% annual rate, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department in its first estimate of fourth-quarter GDP. That was a sharp deceleration from the 3.5% growth pace logged in the third quarter.
Durable goods fell 0.4% in December, meanwhile. Consumer sentiment for January hit 98.5, above an estimate of 98.1.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were higher, lowering yields to 2.49% from Thursday’s 2.5%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 51 cents to $53.27 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices stumbled $5.10 to $1,184.70 U.S. an ounce.
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