Equities in Toronto gained for a third straight session on Friday, led by materials stocks as commodity prices rose, while hopes of a pause in monetary tightening by the Bank of Canada also fueled investor optimism.
The TSX jumped 173.36 points to pause for noon hour Friday at 20,510.57.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.1 cents to 73.44 cents U.S.
Among stocks, Suncor Energy added 57 cents, or 1.2%, to $47.86, after Equinor said it would acquire the British oil and gas business of the energy firm for $850 million.
Sleep Country Canada Holdings jumped $1.78, or 7.5%, to $25.53 after the company's fourth-quarter sales and earnings beat estimates.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reports he monthly total value of building permits in Canada decreased 4.0% in January to $9.8 billion.
Meanwhile, data showed home prices in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) rose in February from the previous month, but were down sharply on an annual basis, as borrowing costs climbed.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 5.94 points to 637.95.
All 12 TSX subgroups were positive Friday, with health-care leading the pack, up 1.8%, information technology, ahead 1.5%, and energy, improving 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Friday as rates eased from their recent highs, as Wall Street aimed for a winning weekly performance.
The Dow Jones Industrials hurtled higher 241.26 points to break for lunch Friday at 33,244.83.
The S&P 500 gained 42.13 points, or 1.1%, to 4,023.48.
The NASDAQ Composite popped 149.70 points, or 1.3%, to 11,612.68.
The major averages are on their way to a positive week. On Thursday the S&P 500 closed up 0.28% on the week, on pace to snap a three-week decline, while the NASDAQ had a 0.6% gain. The Dow was also up 0.6% on the week.
Market sentiment got a boost Thursday after Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he thinks the central bank can keep its interest rate hikes to 25 basis points rather than the half-point increase favored by some other officials.
First Solar gained 1.5% after UBS said it could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Analyst Jon Windham upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. He also raised the price target to reflect a potential upside of 26.1% of where the stock closed Thursday.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise added nearly 3% after Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s latest quarterly results surpassed Wall Street estimates. The company reported adjusted earnings of 63 cents per share on revenue of $7.81 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $7.43 billion.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury jumped, lowering yields to 3.99% from Thursday’s 4.07%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up $1.02 to $79.18 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices advanced $13.40 to $1,853.9.40 U.S. an ounce.
