Toronto's main stock index gained Friday, with strength among energy shares helping to offset government data showing a 0.8% decline in May Canadian manufacturing sales.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed the week ahead 46.62 points to 13,299.54
The Canadian dollar surged 0.66 cents to 104.8 cents U.S.
The energy sector rose as Suncor Energy climbed 43 cents to $38.03 and Canadian Natural Resources was ahead 40 cents to $39.70.
Shares of Talisman Energy Inc. climbed 54 cents, or 3%, to $18.59.
Copper futures were four cents higher at $4.42 U.S. a pound and the base metals sector gained.
Teck Resources rose $1.18, or 2.4%, to $49.88 while Sherritt International declined 21 cents, or 3.1%, to $6.66.
The gold sector was up as nervous investors pushed bullion prices further into record high territory for a ninth session. Kinross Gold added 18 cents to $16.55.
Shares of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. added 63 cents, or 2.6% to $25.08.
The financial sector was down as Royal Bank shed 39 cents to $52.96.
CIBC said it will acquire a 41% equity interest in American Century Investments for $848 million U.S. Kansas City-based American Century is a major U.S. asset management company with $112 billion U.S. under management. CIBC shares dipped 33 cents to $74.29.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada revealed that manufacturing sales fell by 0.8% in May from April, much worse than expected, with the auto industry not bouncing back yet from an April tumble, lent momentum by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange extended its gains by 16.43 points to 2,007.38, while the Nasdaq Canada index gained 4.85 points to 556.41
In Toronto, gaining and losing subgroups were evenly split Friday. Metals and mining issues shot 1.6% higher, while energy stocks gained 1.4% and materials clicked 0.7% higher.
The seven laggards were weighed down by information technology, off 0.7%, consumer discretionaries, gaining 0.6%, and telecoms, improving 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks wavered on Friday as uncertainty about the debt ceiling was heightened by comments from House Republicans.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained a respectable 42.61 points to 12,479.70 to end Friday. Shares of Cisco Systems and Microsoft were the biggest gainers among the blue chips
The S&P 500 tacked on 7.27 points to 1,316.14, and the Nasdaq Composite Index moved higher 27.13 points to 2,789.80, largely due to strong earnings from Google. The tech-heavy index rose 16 points, or 0.6%.
Google reported profits that easily beat forecasts after the bell Thursday, and noted that Google+ topped 10 million users in two weeks. Shares of Google surged 13%.
But the U.S. debt ceiling debate remains the big topic on investors' minds.
House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Friday that Republican lawmakers have been doing everything they can to avoid a default. The rhetoric unnerved investors who are hoping for a more definitive plan of action.
Shortly after, President Obama offered up some soothing words, saying, "We have enough time to do a big deal ... we know how we can create a package that solves the deficit and debt."
The ongoing debt debate comes as Standard & Poors warned that the United States' debt could be downgraded in the next three months.
Citigroup reported second-quarter net income of $3.3 billion U.S., or $1.09 U.S. per share. That topped analyst estimates of 96 cents U.S. per share. Shares rose 1%.
Rebekah Brooks, former News of the World editor and CEO of News International, resigned in wake of News Corp. hacking scandal. Shares rose 1% but the stock has dropped nearly 8% this week.
Investor Carl Icahn offered to take Clorox private in a deal valued at $12.6 billion U.S. Clorox shareholders would receive $76.50 U.S. per share, an 11.8% premium over Thursday's closing price of $68.43 U.S. Shares of Clorox rose 8%.
Petrohawk shares surged 63% after Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it would acquire the U.S. oil and natural gas producer for $12.1 billion U.S.
Toy maker Mattel topped analyst estimates, reporting net income of $80.5 million U.S, or 23 cents U.S. per share, up from $51.6 million U.S. or 14 cents U.S. per share over the same time period last year. Shares rose 2.6%.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index fell 0.2% in June. CPI is the nation's most common read of inflation, and economists had been looking for it to fall 0.1% versus the 0.2% rise reported in May.
The Empire State Manufacturing Index, a measure of manufacturing in New York State, improved to -3.76 in July, up from -7.79 in June.
The University of Michigan’s widely-watched consumer confidence index fell 7.7 points to 63.8, its biggest retracement since March.
The price on the benchmark 10-year note regained ground, lowering the yield to 2.91% from Thursday’s closing of 2.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil for August delivery added $1.66 to $97.35 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery dropped $3.40 to $1,585.90 U.S. an ounce
