Equities in Canada’s largest centre rose on Friday, helped by gains in energy and material stocks and data showing upbeat wholesale trade in May as restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus outbreak were relaxed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 56.59 points to reach noon at 16,081.09.
The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.01 cents at 73.66 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Cogeco Communications which jumped $6.82, or 6.9%, to $106.19, after TD Securities raised its price target on stock.
The second biggest percentage gainer on the index was gold producer Oceanagold, up 19 cents, or 5.9%, to $3.32.
Financial services provider Equitable Group fell $1.63, or 2.3%, the most on the TSX, to $68.90, while gaming company Boyd Group Services recovered from morning losses to pick up 52 cents to $205.17.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported wholesale sales hiked 5.7% to $52.6 billion in May, following historic declines in April that saw wholesale sales plummet an unprecedented 21.4% due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem's reassurance that interest rates will remain low for at least two years could unleash a wave of speculative demand in the country's hottest housing markets, realtors and mortgage brokers warned.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa will give the 13 provinces and territories more than $19 billion to help pay for the costs of restarting the economy after several months of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 8.5 points, or 1.3% by noon to 670.08.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups gained new territory, with gold higher 2.3%, materials stronger 1.8%, and industrials, ahead 1%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy, down 0.8%, financials, trailing 0.3%, and consumer discretionary issues, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slipped Friday as a sharp decline in Netflix shares pressured the rest of the market to end the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained negative 28.35 points by noon to 26,706.36.
The S&P 500 recovered 7.68 points to 3,223.25.
The NASDAQ recovered 24.9 points to 10,498.73.
Netflix reported second-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations, pushing the stock down 7%. The company’s weak guidance for third-quarter subscriber growth — a key metric for the streaming giant — also contributed to the steep sell-off in the stock.
Shares of other major tech companies also struggled. Facebook traded 0.7% lower on Friday while Amazon pulled back by 0.1%. Microsoft and Alphabet dipped 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.
Those results come as Netflix, along with other major tech stocks, have struggled this week. Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft are all down week to date.
Tech’s struggles led to a pronounced divergence between the NASDAQ and two other major indexes, the Dow and S&P 500. The S&P 500 gained 1%, and the Dow is up 2.4% this week. Both were on pace for their third straight weekly gain. However, the tech-heavy NASDAQ has fallen more than 1%, on track to post its first weekly loss in three.
More than 3.5 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. Some states, including California, Florida and Texas, have had to roll back reopening measures to curb a recent spike in cases.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury slid, raising yields to 0.63% from Thursday’s 0.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank six cents to $40.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $11.90 to $1,812.20 U.S. an ounce.
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