Stocks in Toronto tottered much of the day Friday, en route to the first long weekend of the summer, before wallowing into the red, as real-estate and consumer stocks both moved lower.
The TSX let go of gains and forfeited 15.65 points to end Friday at 19,527.30,, even so, hanging onto a gain on the week of 162 points, or 0.83%.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.14 cents to 82.88 cents U.S.
Markets in Canada will be shuttered for Victoria Day.
Real-estate proved the biggest anchor around the necks of the market, with units of Dream Industrial REIT sinking 41 cents, or 2.9%, to $13.73, while First Service Corporation sliding $5.31, or 2.7%, to $192.78.
Among consumer staples, George Weston lost $1.85, or 1.6%, to $117.51, while Alimentation Couche-Tard shares dropping 48 cents, or 1.1%, to $43.79.
Among resource stocks, Turquoise Hill skidded 50 cents, or 2.4%, to $20.23, while First Quantum Minerals dipped 68 cents, or 2.4%, to $27.37.
Health-care issues tried to lift things up, with Aurora Cannabis poking up 35 cents, or 4%, while Organigram Holdings acquired a nickel, or 1.6%, to $3.28.
In the financial sector, Canadian Western Bank soared 92 cents, or 2.6%, to $36.83, while Home Capital Group took on 73 cents, or 2.1%, to $36.02.
In energy, Emerplus Corporation grabbed eight cents, or 1.1%, to $7.31, while Imperial Oil improved 48 cents, or 1.2%, to $39.17.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said retail sales were up 3.6% to $57.6 billion in March, led by higher sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers, and clothing and clothing accessories stores.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.49 points Friday to 957.22, improving 26 points, or 2.8%, on the week.
Eight of the 12 subgroups ended the day on the minus side, with real-estate down 0.7%,, consumer staples sliding 0.6%, and materials off 0.3%..
The four gainers were led by health-care, ahead 0.9%, while financials and energy each progressed 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 erased earlier gains and finished Friday near the flatline as the tech sector came under pressure again amid another drop in bitcoin price.
The Dow Jones Industrials came down from its daily highs, but still surged 123.69 points to close Friday at 34,207.84, thanks to a jump in Boeing shares.
The S&P 500 dropped 3.26 points to 4,155.86.
The NASDAQ tumbled 64.75 points to 13,470.99.
For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to register for its first back-to-back weekly losses since February. The blue-chip Dow dipped 0.5% on the week, while the NASDAQ eked out a 0.3% gain this week, breaking a four-week losing streak.
Shares of Nvidia jumped 2.6% after the chip giant announced a 4-for-1 stock split. The shares increased even though the split adds no actual value to the stock.
Ford, which said it has 20,000 reservations for its new electric F-150 pickup, gained 6.7%. Home Depot shares rose 0.7% after the retailer announced a new $20 billion share buyback program.
In another sign of market confidence, new IPO Oatly, which jumped 18% on Thursday in its NASDAQ debut, jumped more than 11% on Friday.
Boosting sentiment Friday was a gauge for U.S. manufacturing activity that surged to a record high this month. The IHS Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index jumped to an all-time high of 61.5 in May from 60.5 in April. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected the index to hold steady.
Bitcoin, which shook markets earlier in the week with a 30% collapse, was stable for a second day around the $40,000 range. Crypto-linked shares rose again on Friday with Tesla and Coinbase gaining 1% each.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained back lost ground, lowering yields to Thursday’s 1.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices jumped $1.91 to $63.85 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $1.60 to $1,880.30 U.S. an ounce.
