Equities in Canada’s largest market remained on the negative side Friday, the last session of the week, month, quarter and first half of calendar 2017. Telecoms and financials continued to struggle
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 48.74 to greet noon at 15,164.68
The Canadian dollar gained 0.02 cents to 76.96 cents U.S.
The index is set to notch a 1.4% fall in June, and a 1.2% decline on the week.
Markets are to be closed Monday for Canada Day.
The most influential movers on the index were its biggest banks and insurers, with Royal Bank of Canada down 0.6% to $94.09 and Manulife Financial off 1.1% to $24.22.
The financials group accounts for one third of the index's weight
Exploration stage uranium company Nexgen Energy advanced 7.6% to $2.84 after saying it had secured $110 million in financing.
But uranium behemoth Cameco fell 4.7% to $11.69. Bank of America analysts wrote in a note that oversupply in the uranium market would likely weigh on Cameco's stock for several years.
The broader energy group retreated, with Canadian Natural Resources falling 0.8% to $37.79 and Encana Corp down 1.6% to $11.21.
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 0.93 points to 763.33
All but three 12 TSX subgroups remained negative by midday, as telecoms doffed 0.8%, while financials and health-care each slouched 0.5%.
The three gainers were gold, up 0.4%, consumer discretionary issues, up 0.3%, and materials, inching up 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded mostly higher on Friday as Wall Street looks to cap a strong first-half performance.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 80.33 points to 21,367.36, with Nike contributing the most gains. The 30-stock index has risen 8.1% through the first six months of the year, marking its best start to a year since 2013.
The S&P 500 recovered 6.92 points to 2,426.56, with industrials and consumer discretionary leading advancers. The index has gained 8.3% this year, putting it on track for its biggest first-half gains since 2013, when it gained 12.6%.
The NASDAQ strengthened 9.48 points to 6,153.83. The tech-heavy index surged 14.2% and was tracking for its largest first-half gains since 2009.
Even so, the major indexes were on track to end the first half, and the second quarter, on a sour note. The Dow, S&P and NASDAQ were all lower for the week as technology stocks have rolled over.
Tech has been the best-performing sector for most of 2017, rising more than 15% in the period. But over the past month it has dropped more than 2%.
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.
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 66 cents to $45.59 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices docked $2.80 to $1,243.00 U.S. an ounce.
