Canada's main stock index opened higher on Friday, with strength in tech shares offsetting a decline in gold miners, as investors kept a watch on a looming deadline for Cyprus to secure a bailout.
The S&P TSX index picked up 43.33 points to begin Friday at 12,791.20
The Canadian dollar improved 0.26 cents to 97.75 cents U.S.
Bombardier said revenue could nearly double over the next five years, boosted by its new fleet of business and commercial aircraft, and that it planned to plow some of the cash into bigger dividend payments. Bombardier shares opened at $4.19, up a cent from Thursday’s close
Elsewhere, Silver Wheaton Corp. reported a 23% rise in fourth-quarter profit as output rose by more than a fifth. Silver Wheaton shares hiked 63 cents, or nearly 2% to $32.32.
Tech issues soared, with BlackBerry clamouring up 2.9% to $16.99.
Also, telecoms shone with TELUS climbing 1.1% to $70.38.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.94 points to 1,101.04.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher to begin trading, with information technology stocks jumping 0.9%, while telecoms were 0.6% better, and health-care issues 0.5% higher.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by metals and mining, off 0.2%, while gold and consumer discretionaries slid 0.1% each.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks edged higher at the opening bell Friday, after a representative of the Cyprus government said a bailout deal could be reached in the next few hours.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 86.54 points to 14,508.
The S&P 500 index was 7.07 points higher to 1,545.82. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite recovered 15.95 points to 3,238.55.
Early Friday, shares of Micron Technology spiked higher after the company's earnings blew past estimates, sparking a slew of analyst upgrades.
Shares of BP rose after the oil giant said it was moving ahead with plans to buy back up to $8 billion U.S. of stock after completing the sale of its 50% stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft.
Nike shares surged after the apparel giant reported quarterly earnings on Thursday that beat expectations.
Tiffany's stock jumped after the jewelry retailer reported a jump in quarterly profit.
All eyes are on Cyprus, where lawmakers are discussing new proposals to raise the money the country needs to qualify for its European Union bailout.
Talks between Russian officials and the Cyprus government broke up early Friday, with no agreement on a cash infusion that could help the island nation secure a 10-billion-euro bailout. Nearly a third of the money in Cyprus' outsized banking sector is from Russian depositors.
The European Central Bank told the troubled nation Thursday that it had until Monday to find a solution.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, lifting yields to 1.94% from Thursday’s 1.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 44 cents to $92.88 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped seven dollars to $1,606.80 U.S. an ounce.
