Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, boosted by energy and mining stocks due to rising crude and metal prices, while investors assessed softer U.S. inflation data and earnings from big banks.
The TSX Composite came off its highs of the morning, but was still ahead of breakeven by 68.7 points by midday Friday at 20.987.10.
The Canadian dollar dips 0.04 cents to 74.71 cents U.S.
Shares of Cameco jumped $4.84, or 7.7%, to $67.35, Denison Mines grabbed 20 cents, or 8.1%, to $2.60, and NexGen rose 73 cents, or 7.7% to $10.18, after Kazakhstan-based miner Kazatomprom flagged a production shortfall in 2024.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rebounded 5.21 points, or 1%, noon hour to 555.50.
Seven of the 12 subgroups were positive, led by gold, soaring 2.6%, materials, ahead 1.7%, and energy, better by 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed most by consumer discretionaries, sliding 0.5%, financials, poorer by 0.4%, and consumer staples, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed on Friday as traders parsed through the first batch of fourth-quarter earnings while they digested the second in a pair of closely watched inflation reports this week.
The Dow Jones Industrials plunged 196.49 points at 37,514.53.
The S&P 500 sagged 7.27 points to 4,772.59.
The NASDAQ dropped 31.09 points to 14,939.10.
On the week, the major averages are heading for modest gains. The Dow is up about 0.7%, while the S&P 500 is tracking for a 2.2% advance.
The NASDAQ is up more than 3.5% through Thursday’s close.
UnitedHealth dragged the Dow lower, with the stock losing 4.2% despite the company announcing higher-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter. Delta Air Lines also fell more than 7% even after exceeding quarterly earnings expectations.
A slew of big banks also reported earnings before the bell on Friday. Bank of America lost more than 1.5% after posting declining fourth-quarter profit, while Wells Fargo shares shed nearly 2% despite posting a higher profit for the quarterly period. Shares of JPMorgan Chase rose by 1% even after the bank said its earnings slipped by 15% from a year earlier.
Citigroup, meanwhile, shed about 1% after announcing the company is cutting 10% of its workforce. Earlier Friday, the bank posted a $1.8 billion quarterly loss after incurring several large charges.
Investors got some encouraging news on inflation Friday with wholesale prices unexpectedly declining by 0.1% in December. The data follows the more widely followed consumer prices data Thursday, which came in modestly hotter than economists had forecasted, with prices up 0.3% on the month and 3.4% from a year ago.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury jumped, lowering yields to 3.94% from Thursday’s 3.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added $1.99 to $74.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $45.20 to $2,064.40.
