Stocks came to a rousing finish for the week, led mostly by tech and consumer issues.
The TSX grabbed 174.13 points Friday to close out the week, month and quarter at 20, 115.18. On the week, the jump was 598 points, or 3.07%
The Canadian dollar captured 0.21 cents to 73.91 cents U.S.
Techs led the charge upward, with BlackBerry at the helm, picking up 82 cents, or 15.1%, to $6.24, while Lightspeed Commerce soaring $1.13, or 5.8%, to $20.48.
In consumer stocks, Canada Goose Holdings flew $1.11, or 4.5%, to $25.84, while Magna International leaped $1.98, or 2.8%, to $72.32.
Industrials also shone, with SNC Lavalin taking on $1.08, or 3.4%, to $33.15, while Brookfield Business Partners units jumped 79 cents, or 3.3%, to $25.00.
Gold weighed things down, however, with Equinox Gold down 31 cents, or 4.3%, to $6.95, while Seabridge Gold hiked 60 cents, or 3.3%, to $17.94.
In communications, Rogers sagged $1.91, or 3%, to $62.59, while Telus dipped 42 cents, or 1.5%, to $26.78.
In utilities, Algonquin Power & Utilities fell 27 cents, or 2.3%, to $11.37, while Hydro One surrendered 52 cents, or 1.3%, to $38.50.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported Gross Domestic Product rose 0.5% in January, as both goods-producing industries and services-producing industries expanded during the month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 3.19 points to 633.20, for a gain on the week of 22 points, or 3.7%.
All but threee of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with information technology hiking 2%, consumer discretionaries ahead 1.7%, and industrials stronger 1.2%.
The three laggards were gold and communications, each creeping lower in price 0.6%, while utilities tailed off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Friday as Wall Street wrapped up a volatile, but winning quarter that saw more Federal Reserve rate tightening and a mini-financial panic spurred on by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 415.12 points, or 1.3%, to 33,274.15.
The S&P 500 hurtled higher 58.48 points, or 1.4%, to 4,109.31.
The NASDAQ popped 208.44 points, or 1.7%, to 12,221.91.
The market got a slight boost Friday after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge showed a less-than-expected increase in prices.
The core Personal Consumption Expenditures index, which excludes energy and food costs, rose 0.3% in February, less than the 0.4% expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
The S&P 500 moved skyward 7%, and the NASDAQ climbed 16.8%, for the first quarter. The Dow ended the period with a 0.38% increase.
For the month, the S&P 500 took on 3.5% and NASDAQ gained 6.7%. The Dow, meanwhile, advanced 1.9% to end March.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strode higher, lowering yields to 3.48% from Thursday 3.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices improved $1.20 to $75.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $9.80 to $1,997.90 U.S. an ounce.
