The Toronto stock market stayed positive on Friday afternoon helped by energy and telecom stocks, while U.S. markets gave back some of the enthusiastic gains of recent sessions.
The S&P TSX index moved higher 30.12 points to wind up the week at 12,830.07
The Canadian dollar was up 0.28 cents at 98.12 cents U.S.
Telecom stocks ran up with BCE Inc. ahead 21 cents to $46.81.
Energy stocks appeared to fare best of all, most notably Crew Energy, surging 7.4% to $6.99, while Calfrac Well Services gained 7.3% to $26.63.
Health-care got roughed up a bit, with Catamaran Corporation sinking 2.5% to $52.94. The utilities sector took a hit, with TransAlta Corporation getting rocked 1.7% to $14.72.
Tech stocks also pointed downward, as BlackBerry lost 20 cents, or 1.3%, to $15.28
On the economic slate, statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed national home sales activity edged back down on a month-over-month basis in February after rising in January.
CREA reported that national home sales declined 2.1% from January to February. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity came in 15.8% below levels in February 2012.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained four points to finish the week at 1,116.61.
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative at the final bell, weighed mostly by health-care, utilities and information technology, each group down 0.5%
The five gainers were led by energy stocks, surging 1.1%, telecoms, up 0.6%, and consumer discretionary stocks, gaining 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
The mood among investors was slightly less festive Friday as investors questioned whether the rally in stocks has run out of steam.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell back 25.03 points from Thursday’s all-time high, to end the week at 14,514.10
The S&P 500 index demurred 2.57 points to 1,560.66. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite moved down 9.86 points to 3,253.82.
The Dow had finished higher for the past 10 trading days, its best winning streak since 1996. The last time blue chips had such a streak, then U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned that investors were experiencing "irrational exuberance."
If the Dow had wound up higher Friday, it would have been the best stretch since January 1992.
Bank stocks were in focus after the Federal Reserve on Thursday approved the capital plans submitted by 16 of the 18 banks it subjected to stress tests.
Bank of America shares rose after it announced plans to repurchase $10.5 billion of common stock and preferred shares.
Wells Fargo said it would increase its quarterly dividend payment to 30 cents U.S. per share, starting in the second quarter.
J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs both dipped after the Fed approved their capital plans, but with conditions attached. Shares in BB&T Corp, one of only two banks to have its capital plans rejected, also fell.
Separately, the Senate issued a scathing report late Thursday, accusing JPMorgan of intentionally misleading investors about the so-called London Whale trades, which ultimately led to losses of $6 billion U.S. for the bank. Former chief investment officer Ina Drew and other executives testified before a Senate panel Friday.
Shares of Carnival Cruise Lines fell after another of its ships experienced technical difficulties, the latest in a growing list of woes for the company. Carnival also reported earnings that widely missed estimates, and issued a weak outlook.
Friday was the last day to close out certain options, known as "quadruple witching," which is when four types of contracts expire -- those tied to market index futures, market index options, stock options and stock futures.
Economically speaking, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment for March unexpectedly fell, raising worries about the impact of higher income tax rates on household spending.
The index was the lowest level in 15 months, driven by a "combination of the payroll tax hike and rising gasoline prices," according to one expert.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said the consumer price index rose 0.7% last month. CPI was expected to have risen 0.5%, according to a Briefing.com consensus. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% last month, as expected. On an annual basis, the inflation rate is 2%.
Industrial production rose 0.7% in February, after being flat the month before, according to the Federal Reserve. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting a 0.4% rise.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury were higher, lowering yields to 2.00% from Thursday’s 2.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 47 cents to $93.50 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1,50 to $1,591.20 U.S. an ounce.
