The Toronto stock market approached noon hour ET higher after being closed for two days for Christmas and Boxing Day.
The momentum was provided by still more record highs in New York, as well as by positive developments in Japan.
The S&P/TSX composite index shot higher 70.01 points to greet noon at 13,588.03
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.43 cents to 93.49 cents U.S.
The TSX's gain came as the market digested news that BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis has cashed in $26 million worth of shares in the smartphone company.
The transaction now brings Lazaridis' stake in the struggling Waterloo, Ont., company to 5%. BlackBerry shares fell 5.7%, or 47 cents, to $7.78. The information technology sector was the only loser by noon, off 1.2%.
The biggest gainers proved to be in global base metals, led by Orbite Aluminae, up 5.8%, while Rio Alto Mining soared 5% to $1.67.
Gold stocks also shone, with Banro Corp. leaping 16.1% to 54 cents, while Iamgold hiked 4.3% to $3.63.
Japan passed the halfway mark toward its inflation goal last month as prices rose the most in five years, while regular wages halted 17 months of declines, underlining progress under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to revitalize the economy.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.53 points to 912.75
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher midday on Friday, with global base metals gaining 2%, gold up 1.2%, and materials were up 1%.
As mentioned. the information technology sector was the only loser, off 1.2%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks turned mixed Friday as investors head into the home stretch of what has been a strong year for Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained but 7.47 points to greet noon at 16,487.35
The S&P 500 index improved 0.15 points to 1,841.87. The NASDAQ fell 6.27 points to 4,160.93.
On Thursday, the Dow closed at a record high for the 50th time this year.
The S&P 500 also ended at a record high, and the tech- heavy NASDAQ marked a new 13-year high.
Markets have charted big gains this year. The Dow is up more than 25% and S&P 500 has gained nearly 30%. The NASDAQ has soared 38%. The Dow is on track for its biggest annual gain since 1996 and the S&P 500 is on pace for its strongest year since 1997.
Delta Airlines shares fell after a glitch caused steeply-discounted tickets to be offered online Thursday.
Shares of Sprint surged amid ongoing speculation that SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate that owns the telecommunications company, is working on a $20-billion U.S. bid to buy rival T-Mobile
Shares of Twitter were under pressure following a strong rally this month. Twitter stock has surged some 75% in December and has nearly tripled in price since its November IPO.
Facebook shares have also been on a tear this month. The social network has gained more than 20% in December, but shares were little changed Friday.
Investors were encouraged by figures that showed a sharp drop in unemployment benefits last week, another sign that the economy is faring better than expected.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 42,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 338,000, the biggest drop since November 2012.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries revived, dropping yields to Thursday’s 2.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 92 cents to $100.47 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.90 to $1,214.20 U.S. an ounce.
