The TSX ended a volatile session Friday slightly on the upside, as health-care losses put the brakes on any growth exhibited by consumer staples. The index ended up for a holiday-shortened week at pretty much the same spot at which it ended the week before.
The TSX gained 37.14 points to close the day and the week at 16,222.46. The gain on the week, however, was but 4.45 points.
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 75.82 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks dragged down the market much of the day, with Aurora Cannabis scaling back 60 cents, or 6.2%, to $9.16, while Cronos Group dipped 14 cents, or 2%, to $6.83.
Among techs, Lightspeed POS fell short $1.99, or 4.8%, to $39.88, while Shopify went downward $30.92, or 2.5%, to $1,202.96.
In real-estate, Colliers International Group settled $1.36, or 1.6%, to $86.46, while Brookfield Property Partners fell 32 cents, or 2.3%, to $13.87.
Consumer staples led the subgroups which did gain ground, most notably North West Company, rallying $2.30, or 8%, to $30.91, while Empire Company jumped $2.37, or 6.7%, to $37.87.
In industrials, Transcontinental picked up 53 cents, or 3.4%, to $16.30, while New Flyer gained 45 cents, or 2.6%, to $17.42.
Financials also showed promise, with Intact Financial hiking $2.66, or 1.9%, to $140.63, while IGM Financial sprinted 49 cents, or 1.6%, to $31.89.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 8.68 points, or 1.2%, to 733.37, for a retreat on the week of 0.32 points.
Six of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower on the day, with health-care dropping 1.6%, information technology down 1.2%, while real-estate sank 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by consumer staples, up 1%, while industrials picked up 0.9%, and financials improved 0.7%. Consumer discretionary stocks were unchanged by the close.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ Composite fell in another volatile session on Friday as the continuing tech selloff drove the benchmark to its worst week in months.
The Dow Jones Industrials acquired 131.06 points to close Friday and the week at 27,665.64.
The S&P 500 nicked up 1.78 points to 3,340.97.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped 66.05 points to 10,853.54. Apple dropped 1.3% and Amazon fell by 1.9%. Facebook, Alphabet and Microsoft were all down.
Tech selling briefly picked up after Bloomberg News reported, citing sources, that SoftBank was considering changes to its options trading strategy. Last week, SoftBank was identified as the "NASDAQ whale" that bought billions in stock options in a bet for higher prices in Big Tech.
All three of the major averages posted steep losses for the week. The NASDAQ fell 4.1% week to date for its biggest weekly decline since March. The S&P 500 had its worst one-week performance since June, falling 2.5%. The Dow fell 1.7% this week.
Big Tech was also down sharply week to date. Facebook and Amazon each lost more than 5% this week. Apple fell behind 7.4%, and Netflix slid 6.6%. Alphabet and Microsoft were both down more than 4% week to date. Tesla, meanwhile, plunged 10.9% this week. At the S&P 500 sector level, tech fell 4.4% week to date for its biggest one-week loss since March.
The market is on track to post big losses for the holiday-shortened week. The Dow is down 1.7% this week, on pace for its worst week since June, while set for its second straight weekly loss for the first time since May. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has dropped 3.5%, and is headed for its worst week since March.
On the data front, the Consumer Price Index in the U.S. rose 0.4% on a seasonally-adjusted basis; rising 1.3% over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4% in August (seasonally adjusted); up 1.7% over the year.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 0.67% from Thursday’s 0.68%. Treasury Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 18 cents to $37.48 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved higher $14.50 to $1,949.80 U.S. an ounce.
