Equities finished a short week in Canada on an emphatic note, with yet another weekly gain, powered largely by telecoms and energy stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index surged 60.01 points to close the day and the week at 15,802.21
Toronto stocks were up 0.5% for the week, for their fifth consecutive week in positive territory. That is the longest streak since a five-week run that ended in November 2014.
Markets in Canada were closed Monday for Thanksgiving.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.07 cents to 80.10 cents U.S.
Telecoms led the way, pulled up by shares of TELUS, ahead 19 cents to $45.00, while Rogers Communications galloped $1.03, or 1.6%, to $67.09.
Energy stocks were in the green, and Canadian Natural Resources was among the biggest lifts on the index, up 56 cents, or 1.4%, to $41.22, while Cenovus Energy advanced 20 cents, or 1.7%, to $12.10.
Among techs, BlackBerry added 11 cents to $14.45, while Constellation Software acquired $2.01 to $723.02.
A sour note was sounded in the health-care sector, as Canopy Growth Corp. shed 23 cents, or 1.8%, to $12.84, while rival Aphria lost four cents to $7.76.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Mexican counterpart pledged on Thursday to work toward a renegotiation of NAFTA even as talks taking place in the United States turned sour due to hard-line U.S. demands.
On the economic beat, the Canadian Real Estate Association declared that the average price of a Canadian home rose by 3% in the year up to September, even as sales during the month came in 11% lower than they were a year ago.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange progressed 6.18 points to finish Friday at 796.82
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups stayed in the green on the day, as telecoms grew 1%, and the information technology, and energy sectors each advanced 0.7%.
Only health-care remained negative, slipping 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks reached record highs on Friday as investors bet on another strong earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 30.71 points to 22,871.72.
The S&P 500 gained back 2.24 points to 2,553.17
The NASDAQ recouped 14.29 points to 6,605.80, notching a closing record.
Bank of America jumped 1.5% on better-than-expected earnings. Netflix added 1.9%, crossing above $200 for the first time to an all-time high as investors bought the stock ahead of its earnings next week.
The three major indexes posted slight weekly gains. The S&P 500 and the Dow recorded their fifth consecutive weekly gains, while the NASDAQ has completed three.
Corporate earnings for the S&P 500 have grown 6.1%, 15.5% and 10.8% in the fourth quarter of last year and the first and second quarters of 2017, respectively.
Experts say earnings season has gotten off to a good start, with 87% of the companies that have reported topping bottom-line expectations
Other analysts were quoted as saying earnings are expected to grow by 4% for the third quarter
Wall Street also digested lighter-than-expected economic data in the form of inflation and retail sales numbers. The consumer price index rose 0.6% last month, below the expected gain of 0.7%. Retail sales, meanwhile, gained 1.6%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained ground, lowering yields to 2.28% from Thurssday’s 2.32%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened 77 cents a barrel to $51.37 U.S.
Gold prices gained $8.70 to $1,305.20 U.S. an ounce
