Canada's main stock index fell modestly in morning trading on Friday, weighed by financial and railway companies, though better-than-expected results from BlackBerry offset some of the losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed to within 10.97 points to greet noon ET Friday at 15,567.79
The Canadian dollar stayed buoyant 0.08 cents at 75.06 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Royal Bank of Canada, which fell 0.5% to $97.43, and Bank of Nova Scotia, which declined 0.7% to $78.12. Bank of Montreal slipped 0.4% to $99.47.
CIBC, which fell nearly 3% on Thursday after it raised its offer for PrivateBancorp Inc, recouped some of the previous session's losses, rising 0.6% to $114.41.
BlackBerry, which said it expects to be profitable on an adjusted basis in 2018 and nearly halved its operating costs, was one of the bright spots in the market. Shares surged 14.9% to $10.65.
Canada's two biggest rail operators also dragged, with Canadian Pacific Railway slipping 0.7% to $196.03 and Canadian National Railway off 0.1% to $98.48.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s GDP grew 0.6% in January on the strength of widespread growth across both goods- and service-producing industries.
The agency also said that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees registered at $967.00 in January, little changed from December and up 1.8% from January 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 3.95 points to 811.76
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups had made it into positive territory by midday, with gold brighter 1%, information technology perking 0.9%, and materials up 0.4%.
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, sinking 0.7%, energy, falling back 0.6%, and financials, down 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded mixed on Friday — the last day of the first quarter — as investors digested a slew of economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials stayed behind 30.02 points to 20,698.47, with Goldman Sachs and Exxon Mobil contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 edged forward 0.14 points to 2,368.20, with energy lagging and utilities outperforming.
The NASDAQ Composite added 7.64 points to 5,921.99
Entering Friday's session, the three major U.S. indexes were on track to post gains of at least 4.9%
The first-quarter rally slowed down this month, with the S&P and NASDAQ on track to post gains of 0.2% and 1.5%, respectively, while the Dow was poised for a gain of 0.4%.
Economically speaking, south of the line, personal income rose 0.4% in February, in line with expectations, while consumer spending rose 0.1%, below an expected increase of 0.2%
The PCE price index — an indicator of inflation — rose 2.1% year over year, while core PCE increased 1.8% from last year.
Moreover, the Chicago manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 57.7 this month from 57.4 in February. Consumer sentiment hit 96.9 versus an expected read of 97.6
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained, lowering yields to 2.41% from Thursday’s 2.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices were unchanged to $50.35 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices sank one dollar at $1,249.00 U.S. an ounce.
