Stocks in Toronto fell on Friday as a pullback in oil prices weighed on energy shares, while Bombardier surged on reports that it is close to a deal to sell up to 125 CSeries jets to a U.S. airline.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained negative 13.88 points to greet noon at 13,654.41
The Canadian dollar was down, but only 0.03 cents to 77.81 cents U.S.
The most influential weights on the index included Suncor Energy, down 2% at $36.17, and Canadian Natural Resources, which declined 2.5% to $36.59.
Bombardier advanced 9.8% to $1.68 after the Wall Street Journal reported that Delta Air Lines Inc was in the final stages of a deal with the plane maker, citing three sources. A separate source told Reuters a deal was close.
Mitel Networks Corp fell 9.7% to $9.10 after announcing it would pay about $1.96 in cash and stock to acquire fellow voice and telephony gear maker Polycom Inc .
Copper prices declined 1.1% to $4,778.50 U.S. a tonne.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales for February slumped 3.3% to $51.2 billion, following three months of consecutive gains.
According to figures published by the Canadian Real Estate Association, national home sales posted their third monthly increase and broke all previous monthly records. National home sales rose by 1.5% from February to March. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity was up 12.2% compared to March 2015.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.7 points to 630.12
Six of the 13 TSX subgroups were positive, led by gold, up 2.2%, materials, up 1.5%, and metals and mining were ahead 0.9%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by energy, down 1.5%, health-care, fading 0.6%, and consumer discretionary issues,
easing 0.1%.
Utilities were unchanged at noon hour.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a range Friday after mixed data and ahead of a highly anticipated weekend meeting of oil producers.
The Dow Jones Industrials worked to within 12.4 points of breakeven to 17,914.03, with Cisco leading decliners and Travelers the greatest advancer.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.08 points to 2,081.70. Utilities led most S&P 500 sectors higher in late-morning trade, while energy held about 1% lower as the greatest decliner.
The NASDAQ index nosed upwards 0.3 points to 4,946.19
Citigroup posted first-quarter earnings per share of $1.10, falling 27% from $1.51 U.S. a share in the year-earlier period. Revenue for the quarter came in at $17.55 billion U.S., against the comparable year-ago figure of $19.81 billion U.S. However, both earnings and revenue topped expectations.
The stock halved initial gains to trade 1% higher in morning trade.
In other corporate news, Bats Global Markets made its second attempt at an initial public offering, pricing its IPO late Thursday at $19.00 U.S. a share, the high end of the expected range. The company's previous IPO attempt four years ago failed due to technical issues.
Economic news was mixed, with the Empire State Manufacturing Survey rising nine points in April to 9.6, its highest in more than a year, while U.S. industrial production fell 0.6% in March, more than expected. Consumer sentiment was 89.7.
Oil producers led by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia plan to meet in Qatar on Sunday to discuss freezing output around current levels in an effort to contain a global supply glut.
Overnight, official data showed China's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 6.7% in the first quarter, a touch below the fourth-quarter's 6.8% rate.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 1.75% from Thursday’s 1.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped $1.15 a barrel to $40.35 U.S.
Gold prices took on $5.56 to $1,233.45 U.S. an ounce.
