Stocks in Toronto remained buoyant midday Friday, though losses by energy companies and base metal miners limited gains somewhat.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index held onto gains worth 30.64 points to greet noon at 13,818.44, on track for a 0.5% gain for the week.
The Canadian dollar gave back 0.58 cents to 77.27 cents U.S.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, gained ground, as First Quantum Minerals fell 3.7% to $8.44 and Teck Resources Ltd lost 3.5% to $12.04.
Copper prices rose after a string of declines as some investors closed out positions that had been betting on lower prices, though others remained cautious ahead of U.S. and Chinese economic data.
Aluminum, however, extended its slide, touching its lowest level in a month on persistent worries about oversupply.
But gold miners bounced back after a dip on Thursday, with Kinross Gold up 4.8% at $6.84 and Eldorado Gold adding 4.1% to $6.33.
Barrick Gold Corp gained 3.2% to $24.00 and Goldcorp Inc added 1.9% to $23.58.
Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc jumped 7.6% to $4.55 after SiriusXM Holdings Inc, its biggest shareholder, said it and two top Canadian shareholders will take the satellite radio service private.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 4.18 points to 677.77
Seven of the 13 TSX subgroups were still negative by lunch hour, with metals and mining flopping 0.8%, real-estate and consumer discretionary concerns each lower by 0.5%
The half-dozen gainers were led by gold, spiking 2.6%, health-care ahead 2.4%, and materials better by 1.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks south of the border traded in a range Friday as investors eyed economic data, earnings and key technical levels.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 44.24 points to 17,676.26, with Wal-Mart leading decliners and Intel the top advancer.
The S&P 500 fell 1.68 points to 2,062.43, with consumer staples leading eight sectors lower and information technology and health-care the only gainers.
The NASDAQ Composite remained positive 9.54 points to 4,746.87. Shares of Apple traded more than 1% higher after falling sharply Thursday to close at its lowest since June 2014.
In U.S. economic news, the producer price index rose 0.2% in April. The preliminary read on May consumer sentiment rose to 95.8. Business inventories rose a more-than-expected 0.4% in March.
April retail sales rose 1.3%, topping expectations. Over the past 12 months, total retail sales rose 3%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained, docking yields to 1.72% from Thursday’s 1.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices stayed negative 50 cents a barrel to $46.20 U.S.
Gold prices chugged higher $7.86 to $1,271.54 U.S. an ounce.
