The Toronto stock market rebounded Friday from recent big losses, boosted by a jump in BlackBerry shares after the smartphone company's latest financial report beat analyst estimates but showed the company is still far from profitable.
The S&P/TSX composite index spiked 133.20 points, to end the day and the week at 15,206.77
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.36 cents to 89.64 cents U.S.
BlackBerry says it lost $207 million U.S. or 39 cents per share for the quarter ended Aug. 31. On an adjusted basis, the Waterloo, Ont., company's loss amounted to two cents per share -- better than the loss of 16 cents per share that analysts estimated ahead of the report. Its shares jumped 4.3%, or 47 cents, to $11.35 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
CEO John Chen, who joined the company last November, conceded BlackBerry has travelled only half the way on its journey to return to profitability as it struggles against intense competition from Apple's iPhone and the Samsung's Galaxy models. It released its latest smartphone, the Passport, earlier this week, in hopes of winning back its once-loyal corporate customers.
Bombardier jumped 13 cents, or 3.7%, to $3.63, after saying that aircraft leasing company Macquarie AirFinance had signed an agreement to buy 40 of its new CSeries jets, with an option for 10 more.
Energy shares moved higher, as Canadian Natural Resources advanced $1.10, or 2.6%, to $44.31, and Suncor Energy rose 43 cents, or 1.1%, to $40.72.
The gold-mining sector shed some initial strength, reflecting weakness in the bullion price. Goldcorp lost 17 cents, or 0.6%, to $26.23, and Barrick Gold fell 11 cents, or 0.6%, to $17.00.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 8.15 points Friday to 919.42
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher Friday, with information technology climbing 1.8%, while the metals and mining and energy groups each gained 1.4%
The only two laggards were gold, surrendering 0.9%, and materials, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks rose sharply on Friday, cutting losses for the week, after the government raised its estimate of economic growth in the second quarter and consumer sentiment rose in September.
The Dow Jones Industrials recuperated solidly from yesterday’s 260-point fall, gaining back 167.35 points, or nearly 1%, to 17,113.15
The S&P 500 moved higher 16.86 points to 1,982.85. The NASDAQ perked 45.44 points to 4,512.19.
Nike gained, a day after the athletic-apparel company reported first-quarter profit that beat expectations. Janus Capital Group surged on news that Bill Gross is leaving Pacific Investment Management Co., the investment firm he co-founded, and would be joining Janus Capital.
The U.S. economy grew at a 4.6% annual pace in the second quarter. The increase in real gross domestic product was revised up from 4.2%, mainly because of higher exports and business investment, the Commerce Department said Friday. The biggest gains came in business investment, a good sign for the economy in the months ahead.
Moreover, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final read on consumer sentiment climbed to 84.6 in September from 82.5 the month before.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries ducked back, raising yields to 2.54% from Thursday’s 2.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 88 cents to $93.41 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $4.30 to $1,217.60 U.S. an ounce.
