Canada's resource-heavy stock index rose on Friday on the back of strength in energy shares, but was on track for a weekly loss as investor worries deepened over a possible economic slowdown.
The S&P/TSX gained 79.44 points to pause for lunch Friday at 18,408.50.
The Canadian dollar added 0.53 cents to 76.81 cents U.S.
Health-care weighed most heavily, with Tilray sliding 46 cents, or 9.5%, to $4.38, while Canopy Growth dropped 30 cents, or 9.4%, to $2.90.
In gold stocks, Wesdome nose-dived $1.46, or 13.4%, to $9.42, while New Gold handed over five cents, or 5.1%, to 93 cents.
Utilities also moved downward, as Innergex Renewable Energy slipped 14 cents to $18.24, while Emera Corporation dipped 53 cents to $61.36.
Leading the charge upward was the consumer discretionary group, led by Linamar, up $1.17, or 2.2%, to $54.40, while Sleep Country Canada Holdings revived 52 cents, or 2%, to $26.05.
Financials also headed higher, as Trisura Group added $1.15, or 3.7%, to $32.59, while Definity Financial hiked 87 cents, or 2.6%, to $34.03.
Energy stocks also registered gains, with Precision Drilling up $2.20, or 3.4%, to $67.83, while Spartan Delta acquired 31 cents, or 2.9%, to $10.89.
Economically speaking, wholesale sales rose 1.6% in May to $81.1 billion, mostly due to higher sales in the food, beverage and tobacco subsector and the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector.
Statistics Canada also said cross-border transactions in Canadian and foreign securities slowed considerably in May. Foreign investors acquired $2.3 billion of Canadian securities, the lowest investment since January 2021.
The agency added Canadian investors added $573 million of foreign securities to their holdings, after a record-high $29.2 billion investment in April 2022.
Finally, home sales recorded over Canadian MLS Systems fell by 5.6% between in June, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased back 1.91 points by noon EDT to 586.70.
Seven of 12 TSX subgroups had turned negative midday, with health-care declining 3.6%, gold slowing 1.4%, and utilities off 0.4%.
The five gainers were led by consumer discretionary stocks, down 0.9%, while financials and energy stocks dished off 0.7% each.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied on Friday as traders digested a fresh batch of bank earnings and strong sales for June, which alleviated some worries that the Federal Reserve may aggressively hike rates to tame high inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 570.27 points, or 1.9%, to 31,200.44.
The S&P 500 regained 61.16 points, or 1.6%, to 3,851.63.
The NASDAQ Composite climbed 156.95 points, or 1.4%, to 11,408.50.
For the week, the Dow is down 0.4%, while the S&P docked 1.4%, and NASDAQ has slipped 1%.
A new round of bank results from Wells Fargo and Citigroup offered further insight into the state of the economy. Wells Fargo popped 7.3% even as quarterly profits declined 48% and the bank set aside funds for bad loans. Citigroup soared 10% as it beat estimates and benefited from a rising rate environment.
A day earlier, investors combed through troubling reports from JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, which kicked off major bank earnings, and also weighed the likelihood of larger interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and looming recession concerns.
In corporate news, Pinterest shares surged 14.7% following a Wall Street Journal report that said activist investor Elliott Management took a stake of more than 9% in the social media company. UnitedHealth bounced 4.7% on the back of strong quarterly results.
June retail sales came in ahead of expectations on Friday, rising 1% on a monthly basis and ahead of Dow Jones’ estimate of 0.9% and indicating that consumers are bolstering retail spending even as inflation hits record highs. Preliminary consumer sentiment data also came in ahead of expectations.
Treasury prices gained, lowering yields to 2.91% from Thursday’s 2.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $2.31 to $98.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $1.10 to $1,704.70 U.S. an ounce.
