Equities in Toronto index opened higher on Friday, breaking a volatile three-day losing streak, as a bounce in natural resource shares helped lead the market higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index up 62.54 points to open Friday at 14,300.94
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.07 cents to 76.64 cents U.S.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Amaya Inc to $48 from $46 following the company’s second-quarter results. Amaya shares hiked 17 cents, or 0.6%, to $30.32.
CIBC cut the price target on Canadian Tire Corp to $146 from $148 on the company’s second quarter results that fell short of expectations.
Canadian Tire shares were unchanged at $216.12.
CIBC cut the price target on Crescent Point Energy to $33 from $35 after the company announced to cut its monthly dividend by 57% and reduce its 2015 budget.
Crescent Point shares picked up 19 cents, or 1.1%, to $17.77.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Onex Corp to $86 from $85 with buy rating, view the company’s shares as relatively attractive for investors with a medium-to-long term time horizon.
Onex shares spiked 84 cents, or 1.1%, to $75.50.
Among companies reporting earnings today, Ag Growth International is expected Q2 earnings of 66 cents per share, while Aimia Inc is expecting Q2 earnings of 22 cents per share.
Ag Growth shares faded $1.77, or 4.2%, to $40.61.
On economic matters, Statistics Canada reported that its monthly survey of manufacturing showed sales rose 1.2% to $50.8 billion in June, the second consecutive gain and the third increase since January 2015. Despite the gains in June, year-to-date manufacturing sales were down 1.5% from the same period in 2014.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture inched up 0.47 points to 576.48.
All but three of the 14 TSX subgroups were gainers in the first hour of trading, with health-care haler by 1.5%, energy stronger by 1.3%, and gold shinier 1.1%.
The three laggards were weighed most by consumer discretionary and consumer staple stocks, each off 0.3%, while real-estate settled 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded slightly higher on Friday after the release of two more economic data sets while investors' focus shifted back to the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones industrial average prospered 37.42 points to begin Friday 17,445.67,
The S&P 500 gained 3.69 points to 2,087.08,
The NASDAQ index notched up 2.58 points to 5,036.14
In corporate news, retailer J.C. Penney's stock surged about 8% in early trading after reporting mixed quarterly results on Friday.
Nordstrom reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations on Thursday. The retailer added it increased its guidance for the year
An SEC filing revealed Tesla's secondary offering of 2.7 million common shares was priced at $242 U.S. a shares, pushing the amount raised to about $643 million U.S.
Restaurant chain El Pollo Loco posted mixed results for the previous quarter, barely beating on the top line but missing on revenue. Still, the company said it is confident about the rest of 2015 thanks to an expanded menu.
King Digital, the maker of the popular game Candy Crush, beat expectations for the previous quarter on both lines, but said that monthly active users fell short of estimates.
Friday's economic data offerings included the U.S. Producer Price index rose 0.2% in July, while core PPI also ticked up 0.2%, both beating estimates.
U.S. industrial production for July shot up 0.6%, the Fed said, above the expected 0.3% gain as auto production surged.
The preliminary reading for August consumer sentiment came in at 92.9, below the estimated 93.5.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries faded, raising yields to 2.20% from Thursday’s 2.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 61 cents a barrel to $42.84 U.S.
Gold prices nicked higher $2.30 to $1,117.90 U.S. an ounce.
