Toronto stocks remained slightly higher on Friday but backed off the highs of the session. Gold stocks have led the gainers as the precious metal extended a record closing high.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 46.92 points to 11,407.68.
Gold stocks and materials have gathered strength as Iamgold gained 7.9% to $19.40, New Gold was up 6.4% to $4.32 and Seagold improved 2.5% to $25.50.
Avnel Gold Mining was steady at 15 cents after the company said its third-quarter net loss widened to $1.42 million or $0.018 per share from $455,000 or $0.007 per share in the prior-year period.
In corporate news, Suncor Energy gained 1.2% to $36.87 after the company said its board has approved $5.5 billion capital spending plans for the year 2010.
Enterra Energy Trust lost 3.2% to $1.50 after the company reported third-quarter net loss of $9.46 million or $0.15 per unit, compared to net income of $14.92 million or $0.23 per unit last year.
Stella-Jones reported third-quarter net earnings grew to $8.32 million or $0.65 per share from $6.85 million or $0.54 per share in the previous year. The stock was down 2.2% to $22.31.
Uranium One added 4.6% to $3.38 after the company reported a third-quarter net loss of $11.9 million U.S. or $0.03 U.S. per share compared to a loss of $2.01 billion U.S. or $4.30 U.S. per share last year.
Vector Aerospace added 1.3% to $6.29 after the company announced that its third-quarter net earnings were $7.8 million or $0.20 per share, compared to $6.5 million or $0.17 per share for the same period last year.
Warnex dropped 22.6% to 12 cents after the company said its third-quarter net loss was $780,000 or $0.01 per share compared with a profit of $510,000 or $0.01 per share in the prior-year period.
BioSyntech posted second-quarter net loss of $3.6 million or $0.03 per share compared with a loss of $3.0 million or $0.03 per share in the prior year period. The stock dropped 5% to 9.5 cents.
Mega Brands soared 62.4% to $1.38 after the company said its third-quarter net earnings was $72.0 million U.S. or $1.22 U.S. per share compared with a net loss of $122.1 million U.S. or $3.34 U.S. per share in the prior year period.
Canada's trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed to $927 million in September from $2 billion the month before. Statistics Canada says that exports rose 3.5% to $30.3 billion, while there was little change in imports. Automotive products, industrial goods and materials, and machinery and equipment were the main sources of growth for exports.
Elsewhere on the economic front, StatsCan said new motor vehicle sales increased 1.2% to 128,415 units in September following a slight decrease in August.
The Canadian dollar tacked on 0.49 cents to 95.19 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were positive. Gold stocks gained 2.6%, global base metals were ahead 2.1%, materials picked up 1.7%.
Of the five losers, consumer discretionaries were off 0.5%, while information technology and financials were down 0.2% each.
The TSX Venture Exchange moved forward 9.15 points to 1,359.90, while the Nasdaq Canada index eked out a gain of 1.55 points to 676.86.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks rallied Friday to end higher for the second week in a row, amid heightened confidence that the pace of the economic recovery is gaining momentum.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved 73 points ahead to end the week at 10,407.68. The S&P 500 index was up 6.24 points to 1,093.48, while the Nasdaq composite index went higher by 18.86 points to 2,167.88.
Consumer-related shares led the advance following upbeat earnings reports from retailers JC Penney and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Investors also shrugged off two weak economic reports and snapped up shares beaten down in the previous session, including American Express, McDonald's and United Technologies Corp.
Disney, whose shares rose almost 4.5%, reported quarterly results late Thursday that showed signs of a turnaround at the company. It also swapped the roles of two top executives.
Also after the closing bell Thursday, upscale retailer Nordstrom posted a quarterly profit that was below analysts' forecasts, and said it expects a drop in full-year same-store sales.
Dollar General went public late Thursday and opened on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, trading up 8.5% from its initial public offering price of $21 U.S.
Economically speaking, two reports came earlier in the session Friday. University of Michigan said consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell to 66 in early November, from 70.6. And the Commerce Department said the trade balance between imports and exports grew more than expected in October, to $36.5 billion.
Treasury prices jumped, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.42% from Thursday’s reading of 3.44%.
The price of a barrel of oil dipped 59 cents to $76.47 U.S.
Gold prices improved $10 at $1,117 U.S. an ounce.
