Canada's main stock index opened higher on Friday on the back of gains in energy and technology stocks, but was set to post its worst weekly drop in more than 18 months.
The S&P/TSX pushed higher 253.49 points, or 1.3%, to open a turbulent week’s last session at 19,952.54.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.23 cents at 77.01 cents U.S.
National Bank of Canada resumed coverage on Good Natured Products with an outperform rating. Good Natured shares closed Thursday at 40 cents.
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Medical Facilities to sector perform from outperform. Shares in Medical Facilities stumbled 27 cents, or 3.1%, to $8.55.
Strategists are saying as Canada's economy overheats, the Bank of Canada is likely to be among the first of the major central banks to lift
interest rates to a more normal setting even as worries persist about record-high levels of household debt.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 17.6 points to 684.85.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups regained ground in the first hour, with information technology clicking higher 3.7%, energy pumping 3.3% higher and consumer discretionaries jumping 2%.
Only gold slid, and only 0.1% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks jumped Friday, as investors looked to steer the S&P 500 away from official bear market territory.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 295.85 points to 32,026.15, as it looked to break a six-day losing streak
The S&P 500 restocked 66.53 points to 3,996.61.
The NASDAQ Composite spiked 316.09 points, or 2.8%, to 11,687.05.
Despite those gains, the major averages were on track to post weekly losses. The Dow is down nearly 3%, while the S&P 500 ducked about 3%, and NASDAQ has slipped about 4%.
Most S&P 500 sectors moved higher on Friday led by gains in consumer discretionary and information technology. It was a broad-based comeback with 85% of the S&P 500 in the green.
American Express, Boeing, and Salesforce rose about 4% each, leading the Dow higher.
Following strong gains on Thursday, heavily shorted meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop popped 13.8% and 8.5%, respectively. Carvana ripped 20% higher.
Meanwhile, Twitter shares plunged 13% after Elon Musk announced a standstill in the takeover deal as he awaits more details on the platform’s fake accounts
On the earnings front, Affirm shares soared 31% on the back of a better-than-expected earnings report.
Treasury prices gained sharply, with yields slumping to 2.91% from Thursday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened $2.58 at $108.71 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices tumbled $19.00 to $1,805.60 U.S. an ounce.
