The Toronto stock market enjoyed a higher open Friday at the end of a positive week after the U.S. Federal Reserve removed a great degree of uncertainty over its stimulus plans.
The S&P/TSX composite index strengthened 98.74 points to begin Friday at 13,490.94
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.42 cents to 93.35 cents U.S.
Traders are also focusing on BlackBerry after the struggling smartphone maker handed in quarterly earnings that were worse than expected.
BlackBerry posted a loss of $4.4 billion U.S. or $8.37 a share, down from a profit of $9 million or two cents a share a year ago. Ex-items, earnings were $353 million or 67 cents a share, 23 cents below estimates. Revenue of $1.2 billion missed estimates of $1.6 billion.
But its shares crept up two cents to $6.69 in early Friday trading as BlackBerry also said it finished the quarter with $3.2 billion in cash, and expects that strong cash position to continue in the current quarter. The firm also announced it had entered into a five-year strategic partnership with Foxconn to make phones in Indonesia and other fast-growing markets.
Elsewhere, metals and mining stocks led the parade of gainers in the first hour of trading as Sherritt International tacked on nine cents, or 2.7%, to $3.37, and Teck Resources gained 62 cents, or 2.4%, to $26.28.
HudBay Minerals gained 19 cents, or 2.4%, to $8.11.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported this morning that November’s Consumer Price Index inched up 0.2%, after a 0.1% drop in October. On a year-over-year basis, the increase was 0.9%.
The agency also reported that retail sales eased 0.1% in October, in comparison to a market call of a 0.2% increase. This follows three straight monthly gains, and was mostly the result of lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.30 points to 886.87
All 14 TSX subgroups were higher at the outset, led by metals and mining issues, up 1.1%, while global base metals grew 0.9% and financials were better by 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Markets got some holiday cheer Friday after the U.S. government said economic activity ramped up significantly more than previously thought in the third quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrials notched higher 61.62 points to start Friday at 16,240.70
The S&P 500 index hiked 6.56 points to 1,816.16. The NASDAQ was ahead 19.69 points to 4,077.83
In corporate news, BlackBerry shares were down slightly in volatile trading. The company reported a steeper-than-expected $4.4-billion U.S. loss and a 56% drop in quarterly sales.
The struggling smartphone maker also announced a five-year strategic partnership with electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn. Still, interim CEO John Chen was optimistic during a conference call with analysts and expressed confidence that the company could turn around.
Gross domestic product -- the broadest measure of economic activity -- grew at a 4.1% annual pace in the third quarter, up from the 2.8% pace that was originally reported in November.
The revised GDP figure shows the highest rate of growth for the economy since the last quarter of 2011 and comes just days after the Federal Reserve started pulling back on its economic stimulus by $10 billion U.S. per month.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dropped, raising yields to 2.91% from Thursday’s 2.89%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 10 cents to $98.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices tacked on $1.60 to $1,195.20 U.S. an ounce.
