Equities in Canada’s largest market felt around for the bruises in Friday’s first hour of trade, with tech and consumer stocks leading the retreat, even as domestic data showed strong economic growth, energy stocks gained and Bombardier jumped after reporting a surprise profit.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tumbled 65.49 points to begin Friday trading at 15,125.87
The Canadian dollar sprang up 0.6 cents to 80.27 cents U.S.
Bombardier posted a surprise quarterly profit on Friday and said it expected 2017 earnings before interest and taxes to be at the higher end of its forecast.
The train maker shot out of the gate 11 cents, or 4.6%, to $2.52.
Hudson's Bay is planning to open its first namesake department store in Canada in at least five years, the company confirmed on Thursday, even as other competitors are shuttering stores in a brutal retail market. Bay shares retreated five cents to $10.72.
Goldcorp’s CEO said Thursday the company is looking to sell royalties it owns on a number of mining projects it has sold in recent years, its chief executive said on Thursday, as the Canadian gold miner nears the end of a series of non-core asset sales. Goldcorp shares enhanced 15 cents to $16.22.
RBC cut the rating on Tembec Inc. to sector perform from outperform. Tembec shares dropped a penny to $4.60.
Desjardins raised the rating on Uni Select to buy from hold. Uni Select shares lost seven cents to $29.56.
RBC raised the rating on Vermilion Energy to outperform from sector perform. Vermilion shares grew 20 cents to $42.51.
On things macroeconomic, Statistics Canada reported that GDP grew 0.6% in May, with 14 of 20 industrial sectors increasing. This was the seventh consecutive monthly increase.
On an annual basis, GDP grew 4.6%, the fastest rate at which it’s done so in 17 years.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.56 points to 769.77.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative in the first hour, with consumer discretionary stocks sliding 1.1%, while information technology and telecoms each down 0.8%.
The two gainers were in gold and energy, each ahead of Thursday’s close 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell Friday as large-cap tech stocks followed Amazon.com lower.
The Dow Jones Industrials stepped back from recent all-time highs, losing 21.27 points to 21,775.28, with ExxonMobil contributing the most losses.
The S&P 500 shed 8.8 points to 2,466.62, with consumer discretionary leading decliners and tech pulling back 0.2%.
The NASDAQ dropped 25.25 points to 6,356.94
Shares of the e-commerce giant fell 3.3% on the back of much weaker-than-expected quarterly results. Amazon posted second-quarter earnings per share of 40 cents. Analysts expected earnings of $1.42 a share. Sales, however, came in above expectations.
Stocks from other major tech companies also fell, including Apple. The fall came a day after the tech sector dragged the broader market lower as investors took profits off the table.
In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said economic growth for the second quarter released in-line with expectations.
The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.6% matching estimates.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed, lowering yields to 2.3% from Thursday’s 2.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 49 cents to $49.53 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $4.80 to $1,264.80 U.S. an ounce.
