The Toronto stock market opened higher, as U.S. retail sales figures came in slightly softer than expected, ahead of next week's important U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
The S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon up 42.16 points to 12,743.21, after yesterday’s 120-point-plus loss
The Canadian dollar was down 0.07 cents to 96.79 cents U.S.
Meanwhile, the October crude contract dipped as energy firms such as Canadian Natural Resources tacked on 12 cents to $32.69, and Imperial Oil charged ahead 34 cents to $44.67.
December bullion dropped, while December copper fell a penny to $3.20 U.S. a pound. Gold plays such as Agnico Eagle Mines gained 14 cents to $27.44, and Barrick Gold added four cents to $18.23. Teck Resources doffed 31 cents to $28.12.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.53 points to break for lunch at 938.86
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher at noon, led by materials, up 1.2%, while telecoms surged 0.9%, and gold shone brighter by 0.8%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by metals and mining, off 0.8%, global base metals, down 0.6%, and information technology, sliding 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors were mostly upbeat Friday as they anticipated the next moves from the Federal Reserve and waited for more details on Twitter's IPO plans.
The Dow Jones Industrials were up 71.49 points midday to 15,372.10.
The S&P 500 index gained 3.95 points to 1,687.37. The NASDAQ poked ahead 1.82 points to 3,717.79
Twitter grabbed plenty of headlines when the social networking site revealed after the closing bell Thursday that it had issued a confidential filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a planned IPO.
Investors were awaiting more details on the offering. Twitter has not yet disclosed information about sales, profits and other key financial information. It is also not clear if the company will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.
But Twitter's IPO filing comes at a time when social media stocks are red hot. Facebook and LinkedIn are near all-time highs. Groupon has more than doubled in 2013 while Yelp has more than tripled.
On Friday, Twitter's IPO news was already boosting two investment firms that have stakes in Twitter. GSV Capital shares were up by more than 10% while the Firsthand Technology Value Fund was up almost 6%.
Also in the tech world, Intel shares were up almost 3% after receiving an analyst upgrade. Yahoo, meanwhile, had pulled back after reaching a five-year high Thursday.
Investors are also keeping tabs on a batch of economic releases Friday. Before the opening bell, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that although monthly retail sales were up modestly in August, they were lower than expected. Auto sales rose nearly 1% in August, but consumers cut back at other retailers, including clothing and sporting good stores.
Despite the weaker sales, many investors still think that the Fed will decide to begin scaling back its quantitative easing program at a meeting next week.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering yields to 2.89% from Thursday’s 2.91%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 81 cents to $107.79 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $15.90 at $1,314.70 U.S. an ounce.
