The Toronto Stock Exchange found its way narrowly into the green by the end of Friday, helped by a 13.2% boost in shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.
The S&P/TSX composite index scraped together a gain of 9.13 points, to end a short week at 12,667.22
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.19 cents to 96.90 cents U.S.
According to reports, Valeant is close to a $9-billion deal to acquire eye care company Bausch & Lomb Holdings Inc. from Warburg Pincus LLC. The report sent Valeant shares up $10.13 to $86.97 — their highest level since 2001.
July copper was down a penny at US$3.29 a pound. Teck Resources dropping 13 cents, to $28.08
In the energy sector, Imperial Oil gave back 19 cents, or 0.5%, to $39.93, while Petrobank Energy took something of a beating, losing three cents, or 5.3%, to 54 cents.
Gold, however, took the biggest drubbing, with Barrick Gold getting hammered 43 cents, or 2.1%, to $19.69, Alacer Gold skidding nine cents, or 4.1%, to $2.13.
The Toronto exchange was also helped by rising shares in Manitoba Telecom Services, which rose 5.6%, or $1.81, to $33.58.
Winnipeg-based MTS announced that it will be selling its national telecommunications arm, Allstream, to Accelero Capital Holdings in a deal worth $520 million.
Shares in National Bank also climbed, up 1.8% or $1.38, to $76.94 after Canada’s sixth-largest bank said it was hiking its dividend and buying back some of its shares after its second-quarter profit beat analyst estimates by a wide margin.
There was no economic news out today.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange accumulated 6.27 points to 948.32
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative, with gold sliding 1.3%, while material and global base metals each erased 0.9%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by health-care, springing to life 3.7%, while telecoms and real-estate each garnered 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Experts say the bull market hit a speed bump this week as investors begin to consider what life will be like when the U.S. Federal Reserve starts to taper off its long-standing asset purchasing program.
The Dow Jones Industrials notched 8.60 points higher after a generally negative day, to end the week at 15,303.10
The S&P 500 index was down 2.70 points to 1,647.81. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite fell 0.27 points to 3,459.14
But all three U.S. indexes ended lower for the week, snapping a four-week winning streak.
With the major gauges up about 15% for the year, some investors have speculated the market is on the verge of a long-awaited pullback. But others say stocks will continue to grind higher as investors look for opportunities to get in on the rally.
Markets in the U.S. will be shuttered Monday for Memorial Day.
Shares of Dow component Procter & Gamble rose after the company ousted CEO Bob McDonald and replaced him with his predecessor A.G. Lafley. The company had been under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman to make the move.
Shares of Tesla hit a record high as investors continue to bet the electronic car company founded by Elon Musk is miles ahead of the competition.
Meanwhile, Facebook shares fell below $25 U.S. a share, a level not seen since November. The social network has struggled since its initial public offering as investors worry about Facebook's ability to make money off of mobile users. The stock is now down 9% so far this year.
Shares of two well-known retailers plunged on weak results. Sears Holding and Abercrombie & Fitch sank after reporting larger than expected losses in the most recent quarter.
Shares of Salesforce.com slid more than 7% as the company offered a weak 2014 outlook. Gap shares also fell on weak guidance.
Pandora shares erased earlier gains, sliding more than 4%. The music site reported better-than-expected revenue and a slightly smaller-than-forecast loss after the close Thursday.
GameStop shares sank after the video game retailer said earnings fell in the most recent quarter. Investors are also concerned about how the introduction of Microsoft's new Xbox One game console will change the market for used games.
In economic news, new orders for durable goods rose 3.3% in April, following a drop of 5.9% in March, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Economists had predicted a 1.6% rise.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury inched upward, driving yields down to 2.01% from Thursday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 43 cents to $93.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shed $10.20 at $1,381.60 U.S. an ounce
