Equities in Canada’s biggest centre were headed for their fourth straight day of gains on Friday with the heavily-weighted financials and materials sectors leading the way as investors sought value after a bleak couple of months for the market.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 106.22 points to greet noon Friday at 14,489.
The Canadian dollar eased 0.24 cents to 76.67 cents U.S.
Royal Bank of Canada was among the names carrying the most weight on the positive side with its shares rising 1% to $76.50. Toronto-Dominion Bank followed, advancing 0.8% to $53.11.
The mining-heavy materials group was another influential gainer, with shares of Goldcorp rising 4.4% to $17.19.
Tempering the index's gains was a retreat in energy stocks. Canadian Oil Sands sank 6.2% to $7.145.
On the earnings front, Imperial Oil, was down 1.2% at $47.94 after it reported profit that missed forecasts due to low crude prices.
Shares of pipeline operators Enbridge and TransCanada Corp. rose, however, after both companies reported stronger-than-expected results.
Enbridge was up was up 1.6% at $57.20, while TransCanada rose 0.7% to $50.70.
Gildan Activewear was the most influential loser, falling 5.8% to $43.00 after the clothing maker reported quarterly earnings and sales that fell short of expectations.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that the economy sank yet again in May, for the fifth straight time, with Gross Domestic Product down 0.2% in May.
The decline in May was mostly a result of contractions in manufacturing, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction as well as wholesale trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.58 points to 589.88
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were positive midday, led by utilities, up 3.2%, the metals and mining group, mightier by 2.6%, and materials, soaring 2.6%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by telecoms, energy and information technology, each skidding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range Friday, the final day of trade for July, as investors digested soft U.S. data and energy earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average regained 15.07 points to 17,761.05, with Coca-Cola leading advancers and Exxon Mobil the greatest decliner.
The S&P 500 powered up 4.39 points to 2,113.02, with utilities leading six sectors higher and energy the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ index gained 21.49 points to 5,150.27
Exxon Mobil and Chevron both posted earnings that missed expectations. Exxon posted the lowest profit in six years, while Chevron posted the worst quarterly profit in nearly 13 years.
In individual stock movements, LinkedIn fell more than 9% after the firm reported that costs rose. The professional social network did beat estimates on both the top and bottom line.
In economic news, the Chicago PMI came in at 54.7 for July, the highest since January.
The final University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey came in at 93.1 for July.
The employment cost index disappointed analysts with a rise of 0.2%, the smallest increase in 33 years and below expectations of 0.6%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were up, lowering yields to 2.20% from Thursday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subtracted 89 cents a barrel to $47.63 U.S.
Gold prices gained $5.40 to $1,093.80 U.S. an ounce.
