Canada's main stock index opened higher, led by financial stocks, amid optimism of peace between North and South Korea.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 17.71 points, to open the week’s final session at 15,655.30
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.04 cents to 77.72 cents U.S.
Consumer staples showed the way in Friday’s first hour, as Loblaw Companies gained 49 cents to $65.97, while Saputo added nine cents to $42.20.
Among tech issues, Constellation Software grew $10.20, or 1.2%, to $908.00.
Financials also did well, with Royal Bank up 34 cents to $97.52, and Bank of Nova Scotia gaining 29 cents to $78.91.
Energy slumped in the first hour of trade, as Suncor Energy docked 11 cents to $49.62, while Cenovus Energy doffed 14 cents, or 1.1%, to $12.83.
In the health-care field, Aurora Cannabis deducted five cents to $7.67.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 0.4 points to 783.45
All but three of 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, as consumer staples and information technology each soared 0.5%, while financials improved 0.3%.
The three laggards were energy, down 0.4%, health-care, sinking 0.2%, and materials, sliding 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite rose sharply at the open on Friday, led by a jump in Amazon shares following the release of strong quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell back 31.21 points to start the session at 24,291.13
The S&P 500 inched up 3.71 points to 2,670.65, with tech and consumer discretionary as the best-performing sectors.
The NASDAQ Composite index gained 17.98 points to 7,136.65, as Amazon popped 7% a day after reporting first-quarter earnings and revenue that blew away Wall Street estimates.
Microsoft also contributed to the NASDAQ's gains, climbing more than 3% on better-than-expected quarterly results.
Stocks were also helped by strong economic data released Friday. The U.S. economy grew by 2.3% in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said. Economists expected a gain of 2%.
Consumer sentiment figures were to come out later in the morning session.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained, lowering yields to 2.97% from Thursday’s 2.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 32 cents a barrel to $67.87 U.S.
Gold prices gained $3.70 to $1,321.60 U.S. an ounce.
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