Equities in Toronto fell on Friday, tracking global risk-off sentiment as the war in Ukraine rages on, but the benchmark index was on course to record its fourth consecutive weekly gain.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index pulled back 56.73 points, to begin the week’s last session at 21,714.49.
The Canadian dollar docked 0.01 cents to 79.16 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy on Thursday said it was shutting down a portion of its 103,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Commerce City, Colorado following an equipment malfunction.
Suncor shares
Scotiabank cut the target price on BRP to $125.00 from $127.00
RBC raised the target price on MDA to $15.00 from $13.00.
Scotiabank raised the target price on Osisko Gold Royalties to $26.00 from $25.00
Macroeconomically, it’s a busy day in Toronto, with retail trade having increased 3.2% to $58.9 billion in January.
Statistics Canada also says the increase was led by 5.3% higher sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
As well, according to Statistics Canada, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $14.4 billion in January, following a large $21.3 billion investment in December.
Meanwhile, foreign investors acquired $13.5 billion of Canadian securities, mainly in the form of bonds.
Finally, the agency’s new housing price index grew 1.1% in February. Prices rose in 18 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed and were unchanged in nine.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched forward 0.27 points to 851.76
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, with consumer staples snoozing 0.9%, financials down 0.6%, and communications off 0.5%.
The three gainers were health-care, up 1%, industrials, eking up 0.1%, and information technology, inching 0.02% past breakeven.
Material stocks were unchanged.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities were mixed on Friday following a three-day rally for the S&P 500 that put the equity benchmark on pace for its biggest weekly gain in more than a year.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 103.75 points to kick off Friday at 34,377.01
The S&P 500 eked up 0.76 points to 4,412.43.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 89.31 points to 13,704.09.
Stocks are coming off a massive three-day surge that has put the S&P 500 on pace for its biggest weekly gain since November 2020. The broader market index is up more than 4% for the week. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite is up more than 5% this week, and it’s headed for its best week since February 2021.
The blue-chip Dow is coming off a four-day winning streak, rising 4.3% for the week, and is also on pace for its biggest weekly gain since November 2020.
On Friday shares of FedEx fell more than 5% after the U.S. delivery firm posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit amid labor shortages, while the pandemic also hurt its holiday revenue growth.
GameStop saw its shares dropping about 2% after the video game retailer reported an unexpected loss during the holiday quarter. The company said it will launch a new marketplace for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, by the end of April.
Friday’s moves come as traders continued to digest the latest developments in the Ukraine-Russia war.
Several missiles hit an aircraft repair center on the outskirts Lviv in western Ukraine. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is slated to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the conflict. A Ukrainian official also said one person was killed in an airstrike that hit Kyiv.
Treasury prices gained ground, dropping yields to 2.15% from Thursday’s 2.20%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 76 cents to $103.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $9.80 to $1,933.40 U.S. an ounce.
S&P Heads for Best Week Since ‘20
