A rise in commodity prices pushed up equities in Toronto on Friday, as shares of oil producers and miners advanced, with the index looking to be on track to end the week higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index strengthened 96.81 points to greet noon at 14,970.74
The Canadian dollar powered up 0.9 cents to 79.56 cents U.S.
Shares of energy producers climbed as Suncor Energy added 1% to $35.76, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd rose 1% to $37.08.
The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, was up. First Quantum Minerals jumped 9.4% to $14.86, and Goldcorp gained 2.6% to $24.48.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that Gross Domestic Product rose 1.0% in the 12 months to February, matching the increase in January. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, inflation rose 0.2% in February, following a 0.2% decrease in January.
Retail sales eased for the second straight month in January, declining 1.7% to $41.4 billion. Sales were lower in seven of 11 sub-sectors, representing 83% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rallied 1.92 points to 669.01
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher, as metals and mining climbed 6%, global base metals were mightier by 2.8%, and gold shone 2.3% brighter.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by health-care stocks, suffering 0.6%, consumer discretionaries, down 0.5%, and information technology, down 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded sharply higher on Friday, continuing several days of alternating gains and losses as investors weighed a weaker dollar and Greece news amid options expirations.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 197.98 points, or 1.1%, to 18,157.01, with Nike leading nearly all blue-chips higher. Apple and Facebook also gained.
The S&P 500 gained 19.89 points to 2,109.16. The NASDAQ index added 41.23 points to 5,033.61.
Nike topped Wall Street's earnings estimates on Thursday, but sales figures came in below expectations as it struggled with the negative impacts of a stronger dollar
Tiffany reported results before the opening bell that showed a 1% drop in quarterly sales, hurt by a stronger dollar and weak demand during the holiday shopping season.
Darden Restaurants reported same store sales rose 3.6% in the most recent quarter, and boosted its outlook for the full year.
Simon Property made its "best and final offer" to acquire all outstanding shares of operator Macerich for $95.50 U.S. a share in cash and Simon shares, an approximate value of $23.2 billion U.S., including assumption of about $6.4 billion U.S. of outstanding Macerich debt, a Simon press release said.
Earlier this week, the smaller mall property operator rejected Simon's initial $14.39-billion U.S. unsolicited offer.
Amazon received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to test drones in Washington State. The firm could see some headway on the "Prime Air" service it would like to offer.
Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said on Friday he sees an interest rate "lift-off" by September.
He expects the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates at either its June, July or September policy meetings, barring a significant downturn in the U.S. economy.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained ground, lowering yields to 1.94% from Thursday’s 1.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gushed $1.85 to $45.81 U.S.
Gold prices gained $13.40 to $1,182.40 U.S.
