Stocks in Toronto gave up gains they’d garnered during the week on Friday, as oil prices went for a dive, and investors grew wary of economic numbers handed down from Ottawa.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 69.9 points to conclude Friday at 15,192.83. The index gained, however, on the week, 279 points, or 1.87%.
The Canadian dollar shook off the doldrums and picked up 0.05 at 72.63 cents U.S.
Health-care concerns took a particular drubbing, with Canopy Growth swooning $6.59, or 21.6%, to $23.98, and Aurora Cannabis slipping $1.87, or 8.8%, to $19.33.
Financials were also ailing, with Laurentian Bank dropping $2.90, or 9.3%, to 9.3%, to $28.40, while Equitable Group backtracked $3.06, or 4.5%, to $65.47.
Energy stocks were somewhat less energetic Friday, with Husky Energy down 29 cents, or 7.2%, to $3.90, while Baytex Energy doffed two cents, or 4.6%, to 42 cents.
Techs led the gainers, however, as Descartes Group jumped $3.07, or 4.9%, to $65.64, while Kinaxis grew $7.22, or 4.2%, to $177.51.
Gold stocks gained ground, with B2Gold hiking 39 cents, or 5.5%, to $7.52, while Yamana Gold added 29 cents, or 4.1%, to $7.37.
Consumer staples stocks were also standouts, particularly Jamieson Wellness, heading higher $1.38, or 4.3%, to $33.20, while North West Company prospered 63 cents, or 2.4%, to $26.85.
On matters macroeconomic, Statistics Canada’s industrial product price index fell 2.3% in April, mostly because of lower prices for refined petroleum products, while its raw materials price index decreased 13.4%, during the same month, primarily because of a drop in crude oil prices.
Our country’s gross domestic product fell 2.1% in the first quarter, owing to reduced household spending and widespread shutdowns of non-essential businesses in March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On a monthly basis, GDP dropped 7.2% in March, the largest monthly decline since the series started in 1961, as almost all industrial sectors were down.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 9.94 points or 1.8%, to 554.56, on the day, for a leap of more than 17 points on the week, or 3.28%.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, with information technology stocks soaring 1.2%, gold brightening 0.6%, and consumer staples stronger by 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, plummeting 7.8%, financials, off 2%, and energy, surrendering 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose slightly on Friday, erasing losses earlier in the session, as traders breathed a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump signaled no changes to the trade deal with China despite rising tensions.
The Dow Jones Industrials gave back gains picked up during the afternoon, and finished Friday in the red 17.53 points to 25,383.11, as American Express and JPMorgan weighed.
The S&P 500 gained 14.58 points to 3,044.31.
The NASDAQ Composite shot ahead 120.88 points, or 1.3%, to 9,489.87, as chip stocks rallied.
The S&P 500 and the Dow gained 3% on the week, bringing the 500’s advance in May to 4.5% while the Dow leaped 4.2%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ rose 1.7% this week, pushing its rally this month to 6.7%.
During a much-awaited news conference, Trump said he would take action to eliminate special treatment towards Hong Kong. However, he did not indicate the U.S. would pull out of the phase one trade agreement reached with China earlier this year, easing trader concerns for the time being.
Marvell Technologies and Nvidia were among the biggest gainers among techs, Marvell rising 8.8% and Nvidia vaulting 4.6%.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 0.65% from Thursday’s 0.69%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.69 to $35.40 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $16.70 to $1,745.00 U.S. an ounce.
