Equities in Canada’s biggest market were virtually unchanged by noon EDT Friday, on the cusp of a long weekend, and gains in resource stocks fell.
The TSX remained afloat 5.73 points to reach noon at 19,548.68
The Canadian dollar nicked up 0.01 cents to 83.02 cents U.S.
Markets in Canada will be shuttered for Victoria Day.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Village Farms International, which jumped 66 cents, or 6.6%, to $10.71, after announcing
normal course issuer bid for common shares.
Lightspeed Pos was the second-largest percentage gainer, rising $4.14, or 5.2%, to $84.25, after Scotiabank raised target price to $81.00 from $76.00.
AcuityAds Holdings, recovered from early losses to gain a dime to $12.44.
Canfor Corp fell 76 cents, or 2.6%, to $29.03.
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 grabbed 1.76 points to 950.49.
Seven of the 12 subgroups had lost ground midday, with gold suffering 1%, materials off 0.9% and real-estate down 0.6%.
The five gainers were led by financials and communications, each up 0.3%, and industrials, better by 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose for a second day in a broad-based rally on Friday as major averages clawed back their losses from earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials sprinted 243.67 points to pause for lunch Friday at 34,327.82.
The S&P 500 picked up 14.28 points to 4,173.40.
The NASDAQ lost 11.07 points to 13,524.66,
With Friday’s advance, the S&P 500 turned flat for the week. The NASDAQ is up 1.2% this week, positioned to break a four-week losing streak. The blue-chip Dow is slightly lower on the week.
Shares of Nvidia jumped 3% after the chip giant announced a four-for-one stock split. The shares increased even though the split adds no actual value to the stock.
Gains were broad across sectors on Friday. Cruise lines advanced after Carnival said some brands would resume cruises in July. Carnival added 1%.
Ford, which said it has 20,000 reservations for its new electric F-150 pickup, gained 1%. 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, was up 13% 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 $1.84 to $63.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $6.20 to $1,875.70 U.S. an ounce.
