Canada's main stock index climbed for a third straight session on Friday as higher prices for oil, gold and other commodities buoyed shares of resource companies and lifted market sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained positive 16.48 points to break for noon at 12,645.33, nearing the six-week high it hit the previous session and appearing on track to post a weekly gain, its fourth in a row.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.13 cents to 96.49 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers were up, as Canadian Natural Resources Ltd advanced 1.4% to $34.41, and Suncor Energy Inc. gained 0.8% to $32.80.
Materials and gold had healthy gains, due to a decline in the Canadian dollar, with U.S. Fed Chair Ben Bernanke's comments this week providing support.
Barrick Gold Corp rose 2.3%.
Financials gained as Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest lender, added 0.3% to $64.94, and Bank of Montreal rose 0.7% to $64.83.
The Canadian earnings season unofficially kicks off next week. Analysts expect companies to post small overall gains in second-quarter profit, as strength in the energy and insurance sectors is offset by struggling miners.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.2% in the 12 months to June, following a 0.7% increase in May. This 0.5-percentage-point gain in the CPI was led by transportation prices, which rose 2.0% on a year-over-year basis in June after falling 0.5% in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 5.16 points to 919.73
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative at noon hour ET. Metals and mining faded 1.4%, global base metals were down 1%, and utilities slid 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards were led by gold, up 2.1%, while energy and materials each gained 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors around the world were taking a step back Friday following worse-than-expected quarterly results from Google and Microsoft.
The Dow Jones Industrials sagged 31.97 points to 15,516.60
The S&P 500 index dipped 1.13 points to 1,688.24. The NASDAQ Composite eased 30.28 points to 3,581
The modest pullback comes one day after both the Dow and S&P climbed to new record highs.
All three indexes are also up sharply for the year. The Dow and S&P 500 have gained nearly 19%, while the NASDAQ has rallied almost 20%.
Google and Microsoft reported disappointing quarterly numbers after Thursday's closing bell, sending their shares sharply lower.
Microsoft was hit by a big writedown on its Surface tablet.
Results from two of the world's biggest industrial companies -- General Electric and Honeywell -- pointed to continuing strength in the global economy.
Honeywell raised its outlook for the year, after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.
General Electric reported earnings and sales roughly in line with estimates, and said it saw strong growth in U.S. orders.
Whirlpool raised its guidance for the year as the appliance maker reported a significant gain in quarterly sales and profit.
Schlumberger's stock rose after the energy company reported a bump in sales and profit, driven by drilling successes on land and deepwater.
Chipotle Mexican Grill's stock soared after the restaurant chain reported a jump in same-store sales and profits.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 2.49% from Thursday’s 2.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were lower by 37 cents to $107.67 U.S. a barrel.
Gold surged $9.80 to $1,294 U.S. an ounce.
