Equities in Canada’s largest market stumbled into the end of 2017’s first calendar quarter, as financials and industrials sustained losses, while tech and gold issues moved ahead.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sagged 31.01 points to close the day, week, month and quarter at 15,547.75
The Canadian dollar gained 0.21 cents at 75.19 cents U.S.
Tech stocks moved forward, none more emphatically so than BlackBerry, which screamed higher $1.03, or 11.1%, to $10.30, while rival Constellation Software tacked $1.48 to $653.50.
In the gold field, Barrick Gold moved ahead 14 cents to $25.26, while IAMGOLD acquired six cents, or 1.1%, to $5.32.
Telecoms cleared breakeven, too, as BCE gathered 11 cents to $58.88, while TELUS added two cents to $43.17.
Financials had a rough day of it, though, as Scotibank ducked back $1.59, or 2%, to $77.80, while Royal Bank of Canada tailed off 98 cents, or 1%, to $96.89.
Among industrials, Bombardier gave back five cents, or 2.4%, to $2.04, while BRP Inc. lost 55 cents, or 1.7%, to $31.30.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s gross domestic product grew 0.6% in January on the strength of widespread growth across both goods- and service-producing industries.
The agency also said that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees registered at $967.00 in January, little changed from December and up 1.8% from January 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 7.96 points, or nearly 1%, to 815.77
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups ended the day positive, most notably, information technology and gold, each surging 0.8%, while telecoms were better by 0.3%.
The four laggards were weighed most by financials, off 0.3%, while industrials and health-care each retreated 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities closed mixed on Friday — the last day of the first quarter and of the month — as investors digested a slew of economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 65.27 points to end March at 20,663.22, with Goldman Sachs and Exxon Mobil sustaining the most losses.
The S&P 500 doffed 5.34 points to 2,362.72,
The NASDAQ Composite subtracted 2.61 points to 5,911.74
The first-quarter rally slowed down this month, with the S&P closing flat for March, while the Dow lost 0.7% and the NASDAQ gained 1.5%
However, March also marked the eighth anniversary of the current bull market, one which experts say is not in danger right now
The three major U.S. indexes posted quarterly gains of at least 4.6%. The NASDAQ also recorded its best quarterly performance since 2013.
Economically speaking, south of the line, personal income rose 0.4% in February, in line with expectations, while consumer spending rose 0.1%, below an expected increase of 0.2%
The PCE price index — an indicator of inflation — rose 2.1% year over year, while core PCE increased 1.8% from last year.
Moreover, the Chicago manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 57.7 this month from 57.4 in February. Consumer sentiment hit 96.9 versus an expected read of 97.6
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained, lowering yields to 2.4% from Thursday’s 2.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were higher 36 cents to $50.71 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices revived $1.90 at $1,249.90 U.S. an ounce.
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