The Toronto stock market was modestly higher Friday at the end of a volatile week that saw the TSX sink further into negative territory for the year amid a new round of concern about the pace of the global economic recovery.
The S&P/TSX index was positive 33.82 points by noon ET to 12,030.16
The Canadian dollar shed 0.09 cents at 97.38 cents U.S.
Gains on the TSX were largely due to a rise in the gold sector. The component was by far the worst performing group on the TSX, down about 37% year to date as gold producers sustained sharp losses amid sharply rising costs just to get the precious metal out of the ground.
The gold sector is now at levels last seen in 2005, when gold prices hovered around $500 U.S. an ounce.
Barrick Gold Corp., which has lost about a third in value over the last two weeks, was up 51 cents to $18.95 while Kinross Gold advanced eight cents to $5.51.
Consumer discretionary stocks were ahead with auto parts giant Magna International ahead $1.21 to $57.34.
Industrials were also supportive as Canadian National Railways gained $1.28 to $98.28.
The base metals group was ahead while copper remained stuck at 18-month lows, with the May contract down eight cents to $3.13 U.S. a pound. Turquoise Hill Resources rose 22 cents to $5.55.
The energy sector declined, as Suncor Energy slipped 40 cents to $27.93.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the Consumer Price Index rose 1.0% in the 12 months to March, following a 1.2% increase in February, mostly due to falling gasoline prices.
The agency also said that wholesale sales were unchanged at $48.8 billion in February, after rising 0.5% in January
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained three points to at 935.34
All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups gained ground by midday, led by health-care, 1.3% more robust, while consumer discretionary and metals and mining stocks each gained 0.8%.
Only the energy sector faltered, losing 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
It appears to be a relatively quiet day on Wall Street so far, as traders were glued to the latest events in Boston, a city that remains in lockdown mode as police hunt for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off its lows of the morning, but remained negative by 14.79 points to greet noon Friday at 14,522.30
The S&P 500 index moved up 11.38 points to 1,552.99. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite recovered 37.12 points to 3,203.48
Concerns about the health of the sector pushed down the Dow. Shares of IBM dropped more than 6% Friday following weak earnings. IBM has the biggest weighting in the Dow.
Some of the world's biggest companies handed investor big surprises, but no easy takeaways on the broader health of corporate America.
General Electric spooked investors by noting its big backlog of equipment and services. Its stock fell 4%.
Yet appliance maker Honeywell reported an increase in first quarter earnings, pushing up its stock price by 3%.
And Big Macs are not so hot. McDonald's shares dropped after the hamburger maker noted a decline in same-store sales.
But Chipolte's rose 5% after reporting earnings on Thursday that showed increases in revenue, income and same-store sales.
The contrasting reports continued in the tech sector. While IBM fell drastically, other tech stocks fared better. Microsoft got a big boost in its latest earnings report from strong Windows 8 sales, pushing up its stock 4%.
Google earnings topped estimates, even as the search giant faces challenges with how to make money off mobile ads and its Motorola smartphone unit. The company's stock rose nearly 2%.
Analysts expect earnings for S&P 500 companies to rise by 1.85% for the first quarter, according to S&P Capital IQ. But earnings season is far from over. So far, 91 S&P 500 companies have reported, with 64 beating forecasts, 19 missing and eight in line.
Shares of Apple, which have been in freefall lately, ticked slightly higher in mid-morning trding after hitting another new 52-week low earlier Friday.
Meanwhile, Dell's stock fell more than 3% following reports that Blackstone dropped its bid to buy the computer company. Shares of PepsiCo and Mondelez rose 2%.
SeaWorld debuted Friday with the amusement park operator's stock jumping nearly 15%.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury stumbled, raising yields to 1.71% from Thursday’s 1.68%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched up 21 cents to $87.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $6.80 to $1,399.30 U.S. an ounce
