Canadian stocks climbed Friday, tracking U.S. stocks, with the resource-heavy market finding support from strength in the metals sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index picked up 86.89 points to greet noon at 11,591.31. The benchmark index was poised to end the week more than 3% lower.
The Canadian dollar eased 0.37 cents to 96.29 cents U.S.
Among technology shares, Research In Motion Ltd. was a standout in Toronto, where shares of the BlackBerry maker dropped 12%.
The company reported third-quarter earnings of $265 million, or 51 cents a share on revenue of $5.17 billion Friday.
Excluding one-time items, RIM would have earned $667 million, or $1.27 a share, in the three months ended Nov. 26. The results were in line with a pre-announcement from Dec. 2.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast that RIM would earn $1.19 a share on revenue of $5.27 billion, on average, for the latest quarter.
Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. rose 2.9% and Goldcorp Inc. was up 3.3%. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. saw its stock climb 4.7% and Thomson Creek Metals Co. added 3.2%.
Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. was up 2.1% and Nexen Inc. traded 1.7% higher.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that foreigners did not dive into Canadian securities during October as they had done in months past. Figures showed non-residents adding $2.0 billion to their holdings, compared with an average acquisition of $9.2 billion over the previous three months.
Canadian investors acquired $2.2 billion in foreign securities during the same month, slightly more than in September.
Elsewhere, fewer of us are on the pogey. The nation’s number crunchers told us that the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits declined by 5,400 or 1% in October, to 541,200.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange progressed 20.48 points to 1,425.41, while the Nasdaq Canada index was down 7.22 points to 354.96
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were in the green at lunch hour. Gold, materials, and the metals and mining sector were all up 1.5% each.
The three laggards were information technology, down 0.8%, consumer staples, off 0.1%, and telecoms, down 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, investors wanted to take a step back Friday at noon. All three indexes were up Friday but, with little economic or European news, the gains were modest.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 2.76 points by the mid-point of the session at 11,871.60
The S&P 500 added 4.41 points, to 1,220.16, while the Nasdaq Composite prospered 18.42 points to 2,559.43
Shares of Zynga rose 10% in their public debut on the Nasdaq, before easing back. The maker of popular Facebook game Farmville priced shares at $10 U.S. apiece in its initial public offering late Thursday.
Investors showed little reaction to the government's latest data on inflation. Friday also marks "quadruple witching," when four types of contracts expire -- those tied to market index futures, market index options, stock options and stock futures.
While many traders try to settle out those contracts ahead of expiration, there is often some volatility on the actual day.
And Europe is still on everyone's minds. While leaders appear to be quiet for the moment, there is still a lot of uncertainty about whether the latest plan will resolve the long-running crisis.
Late Thursday, Fitch downgraded seven banks, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, as well as Europe's Barclays, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse
On the economic front, consumer prices rose at a 3.4% annual rate in November, virtually unchanged from the prior month, the government said.
Elsewhere, federal officials also said Friday that Europe's crisis could wind up being a job killer for the United States.
New York Fed President William Dudley told lawmakers that deterioration in the European economy could reduce demand for U.S. products. And Steven Kamin, director of the division of international finance at the Federal Reserve, echoed those comments with equally dire testimony.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained strength, pushing the yield down to 1.84% from 1.91% Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for January delivery dropped 61 cents to $93.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $9.70 to $1,586.90 U.S. an ounce.
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