Markets in Toronto slid into the negative midday Friday, as heavyweight bank stocks made some gains, while most other groups including gold miners, energy producers and telecom and technology stocks weighed.
The S&P/TSX Composite moved negative 7.53 points to greet noon at 14,506.99
The Canadian dollar moved backward 0.51 cents to 77.07 cents U.S.
The TSX was nevertheless on track to rise 1.8% on the week, its third straight week of 1%-plus gains.
The most influential gainers included some of its biggest banks, with Royal Bank of Canada up 0.4% to $80.13, and Bank of Nova Scotia adding 0.7% to $65.67.
Among stocks weighing most heavily were Goldcorp, which fell 0.7% to $24.91. The sector edged lower as the price of bullion fell on Friday and was set for its first weekly loss since May.
Suncor Energy declined 0.3% to $36.47. Other energy stocks gained, however, including Encana, which rose 1.7% to $10.47.
Telus shares fell 0.9% to $42.99 after the telecom company said its healthcare unit would pay an undisclosed sum for an electronic medical records operation.
Its rival Shaw Communications fell 1.1% to $24.90 after it reported quarterly earnings.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales declined 1.0% to $49.9 billion in May, the third decrease in five months.
What’s more, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported national home sales fell 0.9% from May to June. Actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity came in 5.2% above June 2015. The number of newly listed homes rose 2.2% from May to June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.04 points to 764.92
All but one of the 13 subgroups were lower, as metals and mining swooned 2.6%, while gold and materials each surrendered 0.7%,
Only financials made it into the green, and only 0.3% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range Friday as a massive rally on Wall Street eased.
The Dow Jones Industrials skidded 12.53 points from Thursday’s all-time high to 18,493.88, with Microsoft leading decliners and UnitedHealth the top advancer.
The S&P 500 dropped 5.08 points to 2,158.68, after five straight days of gains, as financials lagged.
The NASDAQ Composite Index skidded 10.36 points to 5,023.70
Wall Street continued to digest bank earnings Friday as Wells Fargo reported results in-line with consensus, and Citigroup reported results that easily beat analysts' expectations.
On Thursday, JPMorgan Chase beat estimates and BlackRock posted results in line with expectations.
On the economic beat, U.S. retail sales beat economists' expectations, up 0.6% in June versus consensus of a 0.1% increase, in another sign that consumer spending increased in the spring.
Consumer prices increased for the fourth straight month in June. Figures released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department showed the CPI rose 0.2% last month after a similar gain in May.
A key measure of consumers' attitudes, Index of Consumer Sentiment, was reported lower so far this month. Sentiment came in at 89.5 for July's preliminary reading, the University of Michigan said. Economists expected the preliminary sentiment index to hit 93
Prices for the 10-year Treasury weakened, boosting yields to 1.59% from Thursday’s 1.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 33 cents a barrel to $46.01 U.S.
Gold prices faded $3.40 to $1,328.80 U.S. an ounce.
