Equities in Canada’s largest market inched higher on Friday as gains for a string of financial stocks were partly offset by a plunge in Tahoe Resources after a court upheld a suspension of the license for its Escobal project in Guatemala, one of the world’s largest silver mines.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 20.15 points to greet noon at 15,096.31
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.03 cents to 79.93 cents U.S.
The index is on track for a 0.9% gain on the week.
Tahoe was one of the most influential weights on the index, falling 19.2% to $5.54, while pipeline companies also pulled back after sharp gains in recent sessions.
Investors were buying into heavyweight financial stocks, which were up, with Toronto-Dominion Bank adding 0.4% to $65.01 and Bank of Nova Scotia up 0.3% to $77.72. Both are due to report quarterly earnings next week.
Diversified miner Teck Resources rose 0.6% to $30.76, continuing a steady climb higher since mid-June supported by a rally in the price of copper, which touched its highest level since late 2014.
The energy group was barely higher despite oil prices jumping as U.S. refineries braced for Hurricane Harvey.
Pipeline companies weighed on the group, with Enbridge Inc down 0.8% at $50.79 and TransCanada Corp off 0.6% at $63.02. As dividend-payers, pipeline firms are sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 0.55 points to 766.51.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, as gold slumped 0.3%, with materials and consumer staples each off 0.2%.
The five gainers were led by industrials, up 0.4%, while financials and consumer discretionaries each climbed 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
American markets rose Friday on new hopes for tax reform and were on pace for their first weekly gain in the last three weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their highs of the morning, but were still positive 54.46 points to 21,837.86, with Caterpillar and Home Depot contributing the most to the gains.
The S&P 500 moved up 6.93 points to 2,445.90, with industrials and telecommunications leading gainers.
The NASDAQ retreated 0.67 points to 6,270.65, as shares of Apple and Amazon fell.
Markets have rebounded this week. The S&P 500 is up 0.9% while the Dow has added 109 points for the week.
Markets were also higher amid a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, where she described a sound financial system 10 years after the housing crisis. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is set to speak later Friday.
President Donald Trump will start publicly campaigning for highly-anticipated tax reform next week, according to his chief economic advisor, Gary Cohn. In an interview with the Financial Times, Cohn said that the president will begin calling for long-awaited reform next Wednesday when he visits Missouri.
On the data front, orders for durable goods tumbled 6.8% last month as bookings for transportation equipment plunged 19%. The drop in orders was the biggest since August 2014 and followed a 6.4% increase in June.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.17% from Thursday’s 2.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 19 cents to $47.62 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $4.30 to $1,296.30 U.S. an ounce.
