The Toronto stock market clung to minor gains on Friday afternoon, as a resolution to the debt troubles in Cyprus appeared to be in sight.
The S&P TSX index remained positive 9.48 points to end Friday at 12,757.35
The Canadian dollar improved 0.25 cents to 97.74 cents U.S.
Canadian financial stocks led the gainers, with Royal Bank rising 65 cents to $61.39.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled tighter rules for mortgages in Thursday’s federal budget. The budget said the government will restrict banks’ ability to insure conventional mortgages, those with over 20% householder equity, to only those used in Canada Mortgage and Housing securitization programs.
As well, it said it will prohibit the use of government-backed insurance — both on conventional and heavily leveraged mortgages — as collateral if they are not sponsored by CMHC.
Shares of BlackBerry, which formerly called itself Research In Motion, fell $1.30, or 7.9%, to $15.22, as the new BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen smartphone hit shelves in the United States. AT&T began selling the phone on Friday, more than six weeks after the company launched the devices elsewhere.
Metals stocks went south, as well, as Major Drilling Group settled 25 cents or 2.7%, to $8.96.
Stella-Jones Inc. is increasing its dividend 25% after closing out a record year in terms of sales and net income. The company said earnings were $16.5 million or $1 per diluted share, an increase from $13.4 million or 83 cents per diluted share a year earlier. Shares dropped 71 cents to $80.01.
North American paper giant Domtar Corp. is acquiring Xerox’s paper and print media products business in Canada and the United States for an undisclosed price. Shares of Domtar rose 30 cents to $79.67.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.37 points Friday to 1,106.35
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups lost ground on the day, with information technology stocks sinking 1.8%, metals and mining down 0.9%, and gold off 0.5%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by financials, up 0.6%. health-care issues, better 0.4%, and telecoms, improving 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose Friday on optimism that officials in Cyprus will reach a deal this weekend to rescue the nation's troubled banks.
The Dow Jones Industrials strengthened 90.54 points to end the day and the week at 14,512.
The S&P 500 index was 11.09 points higher to 1,556.89. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite charged ahead 22.40 points to 3,245.
The Dow was back above 14,500 while the S&P 500 was once again less than 1% away from the record high it set in October 2007. All three indexes are up between 7% and 11% so far in 2013.
In corporate news, 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.
Cyprus is facing a Monday deadline to come up with €5.8 billion in order to secure a €10-billion bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Talks between Russian officials and the Cypriot government broke up early Friday with no agreement on a cash infusion that could help the island nation skirt a default. Nearly a third of the money in Cyprus' outsized banking sector is from Russian depositors.
While a default is potentially disastrous for Cyprus, it wouldn't necessarily destabilize the European economy on its own. But investors are watching to see how the situation is resolved and if it could set a precedent for larger economies that may face similarly dire straits in the future.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, driving yields down to 1.91% from Thursday’s 1.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.30 to $93.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $6.10 to $1,607.70 U.S. an ounce.
