North American stock markets were higher Friday as a strong U.S. retail sales report raised hopes that a market bottom is near after three weeks of selloffs.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index, after spending much of the afternoon in negative territory, nosed up 2.40 points to end the day and week at 12,542.20
The Canadian dollar slid 0.60 cents to 101 cents U.S.
The TSX had run up about 865 points over the last three sessions as investors moved in to pick up stocks made much cheaper in the last few weeks. But the main index is still down more than 7% just since July 22 and down almost 13% from the highs of early March. Earlier in the week, it was down almost 20%
The stocks of French banks have been hammered because of concerns they will be hit with massive losses from European sovereign debt they hold. One European country after another has struggled with debt, with Spain and Italy the latest.
Stability in the French banking sector helped push the TSX financial sector up, with Manulife Financial ahead 10 cents to $13.18 while CIBC climbed 16 cents to $72.66.
The energy sector gained as Imperial Oil lost 33 cents to $41.52 and Cenovus Energy fell 35 cents to $35.16.
The base metals sector was up with copper prices unchanged at $4.01 U.S. a pound following a 12-cent runup on Thursday. First Quantum Minerals gained $1.16 to $23.96 while Quadra FNX Mining lost 37 cents to $13.00.
Taseko Mines Ltd. shares fell 13 cents to $3.46 as the miner lost $1.1 million or a penny per share for the quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of $44.8 million or 24 cents per share a year ago. Revenue totaled $48.3 million, down from $56.5 million.
Among gold plays, Barrick Gold faded 63 cents to $49.12 and Goldcorp Inc. lost $1.24 to $49.48.
In other earnings news, Wenzel Downhole Tools Ltd, an energy drilling equipment and services company, reported its net profits rose sharply to $2.1 million from $1.2 million a year ago.
Revenues increased 40 to $18.3 million and its shares jumped 10 cents to $2.10.
Units in packaged ice maker Arctic Glacier Income Fund plunged 6.5 cents, or 41.9%, to nine cents after it said it lost $16.1 million, or 41 cents per share, in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $1.1 million, or three cents per share, in the same period of 2010.
Sales were $67.4 million versus $71.5 million.
Finning International Inc. reported that second-quarter net income rose 129% to $82 million from $36 million a year ago. Revenue increased to $1.49 billion from $1.07 billion on "exceptionally strong new equipment sales." Shares in the company were down 64 cents at $24.76.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 23.55 points to 1,817.36 while the Nasdaq Canada index moved up 6.08 points to 475.59
In Toronto, nine of the 14 subgroups closed higher. Health-care stocks led the pack, up 2.8%, metals and mining stocks gained 1.3%, while utilities were 1.2% stronger.
The five laggards were weighed by gold, down 1.5%, materials, sliding 0.7%, and telecoms, off 0.4%,
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks moved higher on Friday for the second day in a row
The Dow Jones Industrials improved 125.71 points, or 1.1%, to 11,269, having briefly surged 200 earlier in the day.
The S&P 500 hiked 6.17 points to 1,178.81, while the Nasdaq gathered 15.30 to 2,507.98
With Thursday's 423-point jump combined with today's gains, the Dow was only down roughly 170 points for the week. It's almost like Monday's 625-point drop, or the 520-point drop on Wednesday, never happened.
It appears for the moment that fear in the market has abated somewhat. The Dow is up more than 600 points from the low it hit on Tuesday.
J.C. Penney edged higher after the retailer delivered flat second-quarter earnings and a downbeat forecast
On the economic front, the Commerce Department released its July retail sales report, exceeding expectations. The report showed that retail sales rose 0.5%, including and excluding automobile sales.
A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com was looking for retail sales to climb 0.5%, or 0.2% excluding volatile car and truck sales.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment reading for August fell sharply, to the lowest level since 1980. The index fell to 54.9, from 63.7 the prior month. Economists were expecting the figure to fall slightly to 62.5.
Prices on the 10-year Treasury note grew, dropping yields to 2.24% from Thursday’s 2.34%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for September delivery slipped 43 cents to $85.29 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for December delivery slipped $8.20 to $1,743.50 U.S. an ounce. Earlier this week, gold prices soared to record highs above $1,800 U.S. an ounce.
