Equities in Toronto climbed to a second-straight record high Friday, though earlier momentum dissipated by the session’s end, as gold and materials overcame jitters in tech stocks.
The S&P/TSX hung onto gains of 41.34 points to close Friday and the week at 16,899.69, stronger on the week by 217 points, or 1.3%
The Canadian dollar lopped off 0.01 cents at 75.33 cents U.S.
As gold again reigned as the shiniest subgroup, Iamgold topped the field, gaining 24 cents, or 5%, to $5.01, while B2Gold sprang 10 cents, or 2.3%, to $4.54.
Materials also gained, with First Quantum Minerals up a dollar, or 8.8%, to $12.20, while Semafo jumped 32 cents, or 7.4%, to $4.65.
Real-estate was also near the top, with units of Dream Office REIT strengthening 93 cents, or 3.3%, to $29.44, while Tricon Capital soared 31 cents, or 3%, to $10.70.
Techs weighed the index, as Shopify docked $6.91, or 1.6%, to $423.74, while Constellation Software dropped $17.72, or 1.4%, to 1,289.20
In health-care, CannTrust got bruised 10 cents, or 5.5%, to $1.71, while Canopy Growth slouched $1.06, or 3%, to $33.86.
In the industrial sector, Bombardier surrendered four cents, or 2.1%, to $1.88, while Canadian National Railway lost $1.99, or 1.6%, to $119.20.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported retail sales advanced for the first time in three months, increasing 0.4% in July to $51.5 billion. Higher sales were reported in six of 11 sub-sectors representing 71% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange spiked 6.23 points to 590.45, which enabled the index to finish the week 1.29 points over the previous Friday, or 0.22%
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were positive, primarily gold, up 1.5%, while materials and real-estate advanced 0.8% each.
The four laggards were brought down most by information technology, sliding 0.9%, while health-care and industrials, each off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Friday on news that Chinese officials were cutting short their visit to the U.S., dampening hope around trade negotiations between the two countries.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave up gains and plummeted 159.72 points to end the day and the week at 26,935.07, a collapse on the week of 1.05%,
The S&P 500 doffed 14.72 points to 2,992.07, for a weekly loss of 0.51%
The NASDAQ Composite subtracted 65.21 points to 8,117.67, or 0.72% over the last five sessions.
The major indexes also snapped a three-week winning streak.
A China delegation had canceled a visit to U.S. farms in Montana, the Montana Farm Bureau said around midday Friday. The Bureau’s director of national affairs said the officials were headed back to China earlier than planned.
Earlier, deputy trade negotiators from the U.S. and China resumed face-to-face talks for the first time in almost two months. The deputy-level trade talks are expected to help lay the groundwork for high-level negotiations early next month. This briefly lifted investor sentiment around trade talks.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose sharply, lowering yields to 1.72% from Thursday’s 1.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices faded four cents to $58.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $17.50 to $1,523.70 U.S. an ounce.
