Equities in Canada’s largest centre moved marginally higher to end an abbreviated session on Friday, led by consumer staples and financials, amid optimism of peace between both North and Korea and expectations of a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index forged ahead 31.34 points to close the week at 15,668
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.27 cents to 77.95 cents U.S.
Trading on all TMX Group exchanges, including the TSX, was shut down early on Friday following widespread technical issues. The session was halted around 1:30 p.m. EDT.
Consumer staples finished the day with colours flying, led upwards by Loblaw Companies, up 49 cents to $65.97, while Saputo tallied 20 cents to $42.31.
The heavyweight financial sector rose, boosted by Royal Bank of Canada, which took on 97 cents, or 1%, to $98.15, while Bank of Nova Scotia took on 59 cents to $79.21.
One of the largest percentage gainers on the TSX was Celestica, which rose 41 cents, or 3%, to $14.31. Elsewhere in techs, Constellation Software ballooned $21.83, or 2.4%, to $919.06
The energy index was down as lower oil prices weighed on most energy companies. Suncor Energy faltered 82 cents, or 1.7%, to $48.91, while Gran Tierra Energy slipped two cents to $4.20.
Belo Sun Mining dropped a penny, or 3.3%, to 29 cents, while Falco Resources dipped a penny to 66 cents.
One of the largest decliners was Detour Gold Corp, down $4.35, or 30.2%, to $10.05, after the company reported first-quarter results. Goldcorp further weighed down the gold sector, losing five cents to $17.58.
North and South Korea announced they would work with the United States and China this year to declare an official end to the 1950s Korean War and seek an agreement on "permanent" and "solid" peace.
A deal on a new NAFTA is close at hand but talks to arrive at a finishing point are not easy, top Mexican officials said on Thursday.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 0.71 points Friday to 783.76
All but three of 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, as consumer staples gained 1.1%, financials and information technology each soared 0.6%.
The three laggards were energy, down 1.3%, materials, sliding 0.3%, and gold, down 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ composite index erased a sharp gain on Friday as technology stocks gave back rolled over while Amazon slipped from a record high set earlier in the session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off its lows of the day, struggling to within 11.15 points of breakeven to 24,311.19
The S&P 500 inched up 2.97 points to 2,669.91
The NASDAQ eked upward 1.12 points to 7,119.80, as Apple, Netflix and Alphabet all pulled back. Earlier, it rose more than 1% on the back of strong earnings from Amazon. Tech shares initially rose broadly before falling 0.3% as a sector.
Overall, the earnings season has been mostly positive. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly results thus far, 79.4% have topped analyst expectations
Microsoft and Intel both reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue Thursday after the bell, while Chevron and Colgate posted quarterly profits that beat expectations on Friday. Microsoft ended the session 1.7% higher, while Intel declined 0.6%. Chevron gained 1.9% while and Colgate was flat.
Stocks were also helped by strong economic data released Friday. The U.S. economy grew by 2.3% in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said. Economists expected a gain of 2%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained, lowering yields to 2.96% from Thursday’s 2.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 13 cents a barrel to $68.06 U.S.
Gold prices gained $6.40 to $1,324.30 U.S. an ounce.
