Canada’s main index opened marginally higher on Friday, tracking global markets on reinvigorated hopes that central bank meetings next week will bring new steps to help the struggling global economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite index moved ahead 53.82 points at the beginning of Friday’s session to 11,693.57
The Canadian dollar added 0.32 cents to 99.34 cents U.S.
Among stocks to watch this morning, forest products company Canfor Corp. said its quarterly profit more than doubled on strong demand in both North American and offshore markets.
Capital Power Corp. posted a wider second-quarter loss on higher costs and unplanned outages.
Surveillance imaging company MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. posted a second-quarter loss as it took a share-based compensation charge.
Fairfax Financial said on Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 14%, helped by stronger underwriting results and hurt by lower investment gains.
Air Canada said on Thursday that Aveos, its former aircraft maintenance firm, which sought creditor protection earlier this year, has been unable to drum up bids for its engine maintenance and airframe maintenance businesses.
Glencore International Plc has won approval from Australian regulators for its $6.1-billion takeover of grain handler Viterra Inc.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 4.71 points to 1,186.13. The Nasdaq Canada index gained 0.18 points to 333.35.
In all, 10 of the 14 Toronto subgroups were on the move soon after the opening bell, energy and the metals and mining groups leading the way, each up 0.9%, while global base metals tacked on 0.8%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by health-care and gold, each off 0.3%, while real-estate slid 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks opened higher Friday as investors welcomed a slightly better-than-expected reading on U.S. second-quarter GDP, growing hopes of more help for Europe's troubled nations also lifted stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average grew another 67.92 points to begin the week’s final session at 12,955.85
The S&P 500 advanced 9.83 points to 1,369.85. The Nasdaq improved 18.94 points to 2,912.19
Facebook shares fell to an all-time low, after the social network company's first quarterly earnings release as a public company. Facebook beat analysts' revenue expectations slightly and earnings matched forecasts, but that was apparently not enough for Wall Street.
Starbucks shares also tumbled after quarterly earnings that missed analyst expectations.
Shares of Barclays were higher after the bank apologized for the Libor scandal while reporting a $6.3-billion U.S. profit for the second quarter.
Merck shares rose after the health care firm beat earnings and sales expectations and affirmed its outlook for the year.
Chevron reported a profit that slipped from a year ago due to weaker oil prices, but company's earnings per share still topped expectations. Revenue, however, fell short of estimates.
Del Frisco's, a high-end steakhouse chain, raised $75 million U.S. in its initial public offering late Thursday, as shares priced at $13, below the range of $14 to $16. Del Frisco's will list on the Nasdaq and begin trading under the ticker "DFRG" Friday.
On the economic front, the U.S. economy grew at a 1.5% annual rate in the second quarter of 2012, according to the government. While that's down from a 2% rate in the first three months of the year, it's slightly better than the predicted 1.4% annual pace.
Also, the University of Michigan will this morning release its Consumer Sentiment Index for July, which is expected to come in unchanged from last month at 72, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury lost a bit ground, raising yields to 1.50% from Thursday’s 1.43%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for September delivery picked up 56 cents to $89.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $10.20 to $1,625.30 U.S. an ounce.
