Equities in Toronto rose on Friday as energy shares were boosted by oil hitting a seven-week high and car parts maker Magna International Inc jumped after reporting healthy demand in Europe and North America.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 135.24 points, or 1.1%, to greet noon at 12,888.94
The Canadian dollar eased 0.09 cents to 73.82 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Canadian Natural Resources, which rebounded 5.7% to $28.29 one day after the oil company's debt was downgraded by Moody's.
Suncor advanced 1.4% to $33.83 and pipeline company Enbridge added 2% to $46.50.
Magna rose 6.6% to $51.28, as it reported quarterly sales growth, excluding a roughly $770 million hit from a strong U.S. dollar.
Teck Resources Ltd jumped 7.4% to $8.24 after several days of sharp falls following a management shakeup.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 1.24 points to 535.55
Nine of the 13 TSX subgroups headed higher, as metals and mining strengthened 6.2%, energy gained 3%, and consumer discretionaries advanced 1.8%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, falling 3.4%, materials, regressing 1%, and utilities, off 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities south of the border came off session highs in morning trade Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 turning negative, after inflation data increased expectations for a rate hike in the coming year.
The Dow dropped 28.69 points to 16,668.60, with Goldman Sachs leading advancers and Wal-Mart the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 tacked on 3.06 points to 1,954.76, with materials leading eight sectors higher and consumer staples and utilities the only decliners.
The NASDAQ index remained afloat 4.21 points to 4,586.41
The major averages were still on pace to close the week with gains of more than 1.5% as oil prices held higher.
Economically speaking, the second revision on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product showed a greater increase than expected, although the 1% annual rate was still slower than the 2% reported in the third quarter.
Fourth-quarter GDP was initially reported at 0.7%, while expectations for the second revision were for 0.4%, according to economists.
Personal income in January rose 0.5%, while personal spending rose 0.5%. The Core PCE rose 0.3%.
Final consumer sentiment for February showed 91.7, down from 92.0 in January.
Speaking at the G-20 meeting of central bank governors and finance ministers that kicked off in Shanghai, China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan sent a message of confidence and repeated earlier reassurances the country would not stage another devaluation of its currency to support the economy.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, lifting yields to 1.75% from Thursday’s 1.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 17 cents a barrel to $33.24 U.S.
Gold prices capsized $13.68 to $1,219.23 U.S. an ounce.
