Stocks in Canada’s largest market dipped sharply at the opening bell Friday, with heavyweight financial shares pushing the index lower, more than offsetting a jump in energy company Nexgen Energy which announced a financing deal.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 75.68 to close the quarter’s last session at 15,137.74
The Canadian dollar gained 0.2 cents to 77.14 cents U.S.
Markets are to be closed Monday for Canada Day.
BMO raised the price target on Empire Company to $25.00 from $19.00. Empire shares inched up four cents to $21.43.
TD Securities cut the target price on Husky Energy to $18.00 from $19.00. Husky shares ditched 28 cents, or 1.9%, to $14.74.
Among health-care concerns, Valeant Pharmaceuticals gave back 47 cents, or 2.1%, to $21.99, while Canopy Growth lost six cents to $7.89.
In the tech field, BlackBerry lost 24 cents, or 1.8%, to $12.77.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy continued to advance in April, with gross domestic product up 0.2%, following a 0.5% gain in March.
StatsCan says 14 of 20 sectors moved forward.
The agency’s industrial product price index declined 0.2% in May, mainly due to lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
The Raw Materials Price Index fell 1.8%, primarily due to lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange crept up 1.5 points to 763.90
All 12 TSX subgroups were in the red to the start the day, as health-care slumped 0.8%, while information technology and materials fell 0.6%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities opened higher on Friday — the last day of the quarter — as banks continued to build on this week's strong gains.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 89.16 points to 21,376.19, with Nike contributing the most gains.
The S&P 500 recovered 4.96 points to 2,424.66
The NASDAQ strengthened 2.76 points to 6,147.11
That said, the broader stock market was poised to end the quarter on a sour note, with the three major indexes tracking for weekly losses entering Friday trading.
The strong performance from the banks came after the Federal Reserve cleared capital returns programs for the big banks.
The central bank did not object to any of the buybacks or dividend hikes from the 34 banks it reviewed during the second phase of its annual stress test. This is the first time in the seven-year history of the tests implemented in the wake of the financial crisis that all banks have passed.
Among individual banks, JP Morgan Chase & Co. gained 16 cents to $91.31, though Wells Fargo had a tougher time of it, losing 45 cents to $55.34.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note lurched lower, raising yields to 2.28% from Thursday’s 2.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 35 cents to $45.28 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices docked two dollars to $1,243.80 U.S. an ounce.
