Stocks in Canada’s largest centre straddled the flat line by the end of business Friday, as gains in utilities and consumer stocks countered losses in energy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index demurred a mere 14.54 points to close Friday and the week at 16,314.42
The Canadian dollar lost 0.51 to 75.8 cents U.S.
Among stocks, Canada Goose Holdings, which jumped $19.96, or 32.8%, to $79.65, was the largest percentage gainer on the TSX. The luxury apparel maker reported a surprise quarterly profit on Friday.
Elsewhere among consumer discretionary concerns, Gildan Activewear gained $1.05, or 2.8%, to $38.90
In the utilities sector, Hydro One gained 42 cents, or 2.1%, to $19.93, while Fortis Inc. chugged ahead 88 cents, or 2.2%, to $41.48.
Health-care stocks also scored well, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals gaining 28 cents to $35.35, while Canopy Growth up 69 cents, or 1.8%, to $39.23.
Gold issues were down, though, Barrick Gold declining 37 cents, or 2.1%, to $16.88, and Goldcorp slid 30 cents, or 1.6%, to $18.44.
One of the biggest decliners on the TSX was MEG Energy, down 11 cents, or 1.2%, to $9.25. Elsewhere in energy stocks, Canadian Natural Resources faltered 77 cents, or 1.8%, to $41.22
In materials, Teck Resources fell $1.99, or 5.3%, to $35.44, while Agnico Eagle Mines declined $1.49, or 2.4%, to $59.47.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales fell 1.3% to $56.2 billion in April, following two consecutive monthly increases. Sales in the petroleum and coal products and transportation equipment industries accounted for much of the decrease in April.
Excluding these two industries, manufacturing sales rose 0.4%.
The agency also stated that foreign investment in Canadian securities totalled $9.1 billion in April, up from $6.4 billion in March. At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $652 million, on large sales of US shares.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said re-sales of Canadian homes fell 0.1% in May from April to the lowest level in more than five years.
CREA also said actual sales, not seasonally adjusted, fell 16.2% from a year earlier, while the group’s Home Price Index was up 1% from May 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 6.86 points to 754.40
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, though, as consumer discretionary stocks vaulted 1.4%, utilities took on 1.2%, and health-care bettered itself by 0.8%.
The three laggards were energy, down 1.4%, while gold and materials each got clobbered 1.3%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slashed losses to close well off the lows of the day on Friday as investor worries about a U.S.-China trade war decreased.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off its lows of the day, staying negative but 84.83 points to finish at 25,090.48, with Caterpillar as the worst-performing stock in the index
The S&P 500 lost 3.07 points to 2,779.42, after briefly turning positive — with energy lagging.
The NASDAQ retreated 14.66 points to 7,746.38
Earlier on Friday, the Dow fell as much as 280.93 points, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both dropped 0.7% after the Trump administration said it will impose a 25% charge on up to $50 billion in Chinese goods, raising fears of a trade war looming between the U.S. and China.
Over the past month, the NASDAQ has tacked 5.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.5%. Meanwhile, the Dow has risen about 1.6%.
In a statement Friday, President Donald Trump said the measures would affect Chinese goods "that contain industrially significant technologies," without specifying those products. He added that the action comes "in light of China's theft of intellectual property and technology and its other unfair trade practices."
Trump also said the U.S. would impose more tariffs on Chinese goods if China retaliates with duties of its own on American products.
China promptly responded to the Trump administration's announcement, with the Chinese Commerce Ministry saying it will implement tariffs on the same scale as the U.S.
Shares of Boeing chucked about 2.5%, and Caterpillar fell as much as 3.1%, before closing off their lows of the day. Both companies are sensitive to trade tensions given their large amounts of overseas business.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury eked higher, lowering yields to 2.93% from Thursday’s 2.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices decreased $2.25 to $64.64 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $25.60 at $1,282.70 U.S. an ounce.
