Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, helped by gains in key energy sector amid a robust 2.5% surge in crude oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index galloped 156.9 points, or 1.1%, to greet noon Friday at 14,369.55
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.46 cents at 74.64 U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Hudson's Bay Co, which soared 94 cents, or 12.8%, to $8.29, and Canada Goose Holdings, which flew $2.46, or 4.3%, to $59.32.
Iamgold dropped 11 cents, or 2.1%, to $5.15, while Eldorado Gold was down 35 cents, or 7.5%, to $4.31.
Back to the Bay, an entity controlled by Hudson's Bay Chairman Richard Baker will buy the stake owned by a unit of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board in the Canadian retailer, according to L&T B Cayman Inc, a top shareholder in Hudson's Bay and a joint buyer.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has rejected Canadian electric utility Hydro One's proposed $6.7-billion acquisition of Avista Corp. Hydro One shares faded 13 cents to $20.09.
Desjardins cut the target price on Stingray Group to $9.00 from $11.00. Stingray moved ahead 12 cents, or 1.8%, to $6.78.
On the economic calendar, the number of jobs in Canada held steady during December. Statistics Canada also says the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6%.
What’s more, the agency Industrial Product Price Index decreased 0.8% in November, mainly due to lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
The Raw Materials Price Index fell 11.7%, largely reflecting lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 5.17 points to 583.66
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green midday, as information technology clicked 2.4% higher, consumer discretionary picked up 2.1%, while energy gushed 2%.
The lone laggard was gold, down 2%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will be patient in raising rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials Index surged 645.48 points, or 2.9%, as a wild Friday session continued, nearing the end of a wild week, at 23,331.70, as Boeing, UnitedHealth and 3M outperformed.
The S&P 500 restored 71.16 points, or 2.9%, to 2,519.05, with the tech sector gaining more than 3%.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 243.93 points, or 3.8%, to 6,706.94
Powell also said the central bank would not “hesitate” to change its balance-sheet reduction plan if it was causing problems. Fears that the Fed may be making a policy error by tightening too fast have contributed to the recent skittishness in financial markets, according to several market experts.
Gains in tech-related names also boosted the broader market. Netflix picked up 6.4%, and Intel rose 5%. Netflix rose after Goldman Sachs added the streaming service to its conviction buy list.
The gains in Netflix and Intel also lifted other tech-related stocks. Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google-parent Alphabet all rose more than 3%.
Tech’s move higher took place after the sector fell 5.1% on Thursday, its worst daily performance since Aug. 18, 2011, when it fell 5.4%.
The sharp move lower was triggered by a dire quarterly warning from Apple, which propelled the tech giant’s stock to its worst day in six years and dampened market sentiment across the world. Apple slashed its fiscal first-quarter revenue guidance earlier this week, citing an unexpected slowdown in China.
Friday’s gains also come after the release of stronger-than-expected employment data. The U.S. economy added 312,000 jobs last month, much more than the expected 176,000.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury slid sharply, raising yields to 2.65% from Thursday’s 2.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.22 to $48.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hesitated $7.90 at $1,286.90 U.S. an ounce.
