Toronto stock markets opened virtually unchanged on Friday, as investors turned wary about the U.S. Federal Reserve's message at next week's monetary policy meeting.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dipped 6.35 points to begin Friday at 12,662.79
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.02 cents to 97.30 cents U.S.
Pipeline company Enbridge Inc will build a $1.3-billion U.S. extension to its Woodland crude line in northern Alberta to serve Imperial Oil's Kearl oil sands project. Enbridge shares fell 33 cents to $45.89.
Raymond James raised the price target on Canfor Corp. to $27 from $24.50 on the company's better-than-expected second-quarter results. Canfor stock leaped 93 cents to $20.90
RBC raised the target price on Husky Energy to $36 from $34, citing the company's better-than-expected second-quarter results driven by robust contributions from its downstream and upgrading segments and lower cash taxes. Husky shares added 21 cents to $30.36
National Bank Financial raised the rating on Potash Corp. to sector perform from underperform, the price target to $39 from $37 on more balanced agricultural cycle risks. Potash shares faded 60 cents to $37.75.
RBC raised the price target on Precision Drilling Corp. to $12 from $11, sees the company's five contracted new build rigs as a positive indicator for the health of the Tier 1 rig market. Precision shares docked a penny each to $10.38.
Canaccord Genuity raised the price target on Teck Resources to $28 from $26 after the company's second-quarter earnings were better than expected. Teck stock grew 62 cents to $25.03.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed up 0.01 points to 924.18
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split between winners and losers, metals and mining soaring 1%, gold 0.5%, and materials, 0.3%.
The seven laggards were weighed jointly by real-estate and consumer staples, each down 0.4%, while health-care stocks slid 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors took a step back Friday as they sift through the latest corporate earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 74.80 points to open Friday at 15,480.80
The S&P 500 index slipped 6.31 points to 1,683.94. The NASDAQ dropped 8.33 points to 3,596.86
Tech shares have been the biggest drivers this week, boosted by strong earnings from Apple and Facebook, but weak results from Amazon and Zynga could put pressure on the sector Friday.
Amazon shares were lower after the online retailer posted a surprise loss. And Zynga's stock sank after the online gaming company issued a weak outlook for the third quarter and said it's not going to pursue online gambling in the United States.
Expedia was the biggest drag on both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 Friday. Shares of the online travel company plunged 24% on a worse-than-expected earnings report.
Shares of Activision Blizzard surged more than 21% after the maker of games like World of Warcraft and Call of Duty said it was striking out on its own, through an $8.2-billion U.S. deal.
Starbucks shares rose after the coffee merchant delivered better-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales.
Halliburton stock rose nearly 4% after the Justice Department said the oilfield services firm would plead guilty to destroying computer test results that had been sought as evidence in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Tesla Motors shares gained after Deutsche Bank upgraded the electric car maker.
In economic news, the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters said a key measure of consumer sentiment rose to 85.1 in July, the highest level in six years.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained back some ground, lowering yields to 2.57% from Thursday’s 2.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gave back 52 cents to $104.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were $4.90 weaker to $1,323.70 U.S. an ounce.
