The Toronto stock market was modestly higher Friday at the end of a volatile week as a partial U.S. government shutdown entered its fourth day.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved higher 36.87 to greet noon ET at 12,771.99
The Canadian dollar gained 0.27 cents to 97.07 cents U.S.
Mining stocks provided most lift on the TSX after losing substantial ground during this week. The base metals sector rose while December copper was up three cents to $3.30 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources was ahead 40 cents to $27.72.
The telecom sector advanced after Canada's major telecoms were given the go-ahead by the Federal Court of Appeal to challenge part of the CRTC's new wireless code of conduct that would affect three-year cellphone contracts retroactively.
Rogers, Bell, Telus and others say a new CRTC code mandating that contracts run no more than two years would prematurely apply to three-year contracts signed before the new code comes into effect on Dec. 2. Rogers was the strongest advancer, up 57 cents to $44.23.
The energy sector was up with Suncor Energy climbed 40 cents to $36.65.
Gold stocks declined, with Kinross Gold fading nine cents to $4.92.
The tech sector was also weak with Wi-Lan Inc. down seven cents to $3.83 and BlackBerry off four cents to $7.93.
The smartphone maker expects to receive a $500-million U.S. tax rebate within the next year. It wasn't clear from a regulatory filing whether the bulk of the tax refund would come from Canada, where the global smartphone company is based, or another jurisdiction.
In corporate news, Air Canada shares shot up 45 cents or 11.5% to $4.38 on very heavy volume of 7.8 million shares, rising to their highest price in more than a year, as analysts raised their price targets after the airline announced improved cost estimates.
The shares have been gaining altitude since Tuesday, and traded Friday as much as 50 cents above the previous 52-week high.
On the economic slate, Western University’s Ivey Purchasing Managers’ Index for September stood at 51.9. The corresponding Ivey PMI figure for August 2013 was 51.0, for September 2012, 60.4 and for September 2011, 55.7. The market call was for the PMI to register at 53.6.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange had gained 5.59 points by lunch to 949.44
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups remained higher midday, led by metals and mining stocks, up 1.6%, while health-care and global base metals each surged 1.1%.
The three laggards were information technology and gold, down 0.4% each, while industrials sank 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors remained cautious as the government shutdown extended to a fourth day.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained positive 40.94 points to pause for lunch at 15,037.40
The S&P 500 index gained 5.90 points to 1,684.56. The NASDAQ added 23.44 points to 3,797.78
It’s the end of a down week on Wall Street. The Dow is on track for a 1.5% drop. The S&P 500 is down about 0.4%, while the NASDAQ looks to hold onto weekly gains
Shares of Facebook moved modestly higher after the company said it will start selling advertising on its photo sharing tool Instagram.
Facebook competitor Twitter made its IPO filing public late Thursday. Twitter revealed that it is still unprofitable. The company also said it will trade under the symbol TWTR, though it hasn't yet said on which exchange it will list. Goldman Sachs is the lead underwriter for the IPO.
Though Twitter's IPO is the most highly anticipated market debut since Facebook, investors were salivating over the IPO of a Chicago-based sandwich shop Friday.
Potbelly surged more than 120% from its offering price as it began trading on the NASDAQ.
Adobe shares were lower after the company said that hackers had accessed personal data for nearly three million of its customers.
Tesla shares were modestly higher following a three-day slide that shaved more than 10% of the value off the electric car maker's high-flying stock.
The government shutdown has created plenty of uncertainty and left an estimated 800,000 federal employees waiting to go back to work.
The shutdown is also delaying the release of the government's monthly jobs report, originally scheduled to come out Friday morning. Since the recession, the report has become the most closely watched indicator on the economy.
With little else to focus on, investors will continue to watch Washington for developments on the budget deal and the looming deadline to raise the debt ceiling. Failure to raise the debt limit is likely to have a significant impact on the global economy, as well as stocks, bonds and currency markets.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dragged, raising yields to 2.64% from Thursday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices increased 21 cents to $103.52 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped seven dollars at $1,310.60 U.S. an ounce.
