Toronto's main index ended higher on Friday afternoon, led by metal-related stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index leapt 135.28 points Friday to end the week at 10,256.78. The index was still off three out of five days, after plumbing a three-week low on Wednesday.
Gold stocks finished up and materials stocks climbed as the precious metal inched up. Yamana Gold finished up 3.7% to $10.44 after it declared a second quarter dividend of $0.01 per share for shareholders on record June 30, payable July 14.
Mining stocks gained on the day. Inmet added 3.6% to $41.95, First Quantum picked up 5.8% to $55.02 and Teck Cominco was up 1.9% to $18.79.
On the downside, technology stocks lost. Research in Motion dropped 4.7% to $82.70 after the Blackberry maker reported first quarter earnings of $1.12 per share, up from the $0.84 last year and better than analysts' expectations. The company expects to report second quarter EPS between $0.94 and $1.03, compared to the $0.97 expected by analysts.
Greystar Resources tacked on 4.1% to $3.33. The company announced the resignation of Chief Financial Officer Pauline Pasetka. Executive Vice President Frederick Felder has been appointed acting CFO until a replacement is found.
Africo Resources announced that the company's minority shareholders have approved the deal with Camrose Resources Ltd. and Comide Sprl, under which, all parties had consented to terminate the acquisition by Africo of the Mashitu property. Africo strengthened 4.4% to 94 cents.
Alexis Minerals shares were flat at 48 cents after the company announced that it will sell 11.66 million units at a price of $0.50 per unit and 7.45 million flow-through common shares at a price of $0.56 per Flow-Through Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $10 million.
On the economic front, retail sales in Canada declined 0.8% in April. Sales were expected to fall 0.2%, compared to a 0.3% rise last month.
The Canadian dollar moved 0.09 cents lower to 88.13 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 13 TSX subgroups, all but two were positive to end the day. Metals and mining led wire-to-wire all through the day, finishing up 3.5%, followed by gold stocks, ahead 3.3% and health-care stocks, 2.4% healthier.
The two losers on the day were information technology, stepping back 2% and telecoms, down 0.2%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 4.49 points to 1,118.80 while the Nasdaq Canada Index slid 27.74 points to 706.28
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, the Nasdaq surged Friday afternoon and the broader market struggled at the end of the first down week in a month for Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrials average tailed off late in the day to finish down by 15.87 points, at 8,539.73. The S&P 500 index picked up 2.85 points to 921.22. The Nasdaq held onto its strength, gaining 19.75 points to 1,827.47.
Blue chips posted slim gains Thursday after better-than-expected reports on the labor market and manufacturing helped counter a recent batch of mixed economic news. That revived optimism remained in play Friday.
But Friday was also under the influence of the quadruple options expiration, or "quadruple witching," a quarterly event in which stock index futures and options and individual stock futures and options all expire at the same time. It creates volatility in the underlying stocks, particularly toward the end of the session.
Since bottoming March 9 at a 12-year low, the S&P 500 had run up 40% through last week. But stocks set to close lower for the week on worries that the rally may have outpaced any signs of recovery.
Falling commodity prices dragged on the underlying stocks, keeping the blue chips in negative territory.
Dow oil components Chevron and Exxon Mobil dragged. Other Dow losers included Boeing, Caterpillar, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart Stores.
Components Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft gained, offsetting the losses.
Microsoft was higher after Goldman Sachs added the software leader to its "conviction buy" list, according to reports.
Apple's iPhone 3G S went on sale Friday, and was expected to sell as many as 500,000 copies this weekend, according to a Piper Jaffray analyst. The third generation of the iPhone features a better camera that includes video capturing and editing capabilities, a longer-lasting battery, voice-command control and a built-in digital compass.
Apple stock closed 2.7% higher.
Economically speaking, the jobless rate rose in nearly every state in the nation in May, the government reported. One state - Nebraska - registered a decline and Vermont saw no change.
Michigan led the nation with a 14.1% jobless rate, followed by Oregon with a 12.4% rate. For the full year, jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
However, the labor market typically lags any other broader recovery in the latter stages of a recession, so the day's jobless numbers didn't seem to impact investors looking for signs of a broader stabilization.
A number of recent indicators have suggested the job market is starting to stabilize, but that hasn't helped the millions of unemployed Americans looking for work.
Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.82% from 3.83% Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
U.S. light crude oil for July delivery fell $1.82 to settle at $69.55 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for August delivery rose $1.60 to settle at $936.20 U.S. an ounce.
