Stocks recovered from two straight days of stiff losses with healthy gains Friday, powered mostly by strong gains exhibited by the major banks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved ahead 65.43 points to end the day and a short week at 16,230.04
The index was still on track to end the week lower.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.21 cents to 74.43 cents U.S.
Markets were closed last Monday for Victoria Day.
Financials prospered the most by day’s and week’s end, as Royal Bank of Canada hiked $1.27, or 1.2%, to $103.91, while CIBC advanced 92 cents to $104.79.
In the health-care sector, Aphria jumped 76 cents, or 8.8%, to $9.38, after Jefferies started coverage of the cannabis producer with a "buy" rating.
Aurora Cannabis forged up seven cents to $11.17.
Materials were also in the green, as Agnico Eagle Mines acquired nine cents to $55.16, while Frontier Lithium fought its way to a gain of one cent, or 2.9%, to 35 cents.
Among consumer staples, Loblaw Companies gave back five cents to $69.95, while Restaurant Brands International settled 41 cents to $92.05.
In communications, Rogers dished over a penny to $71.15, while Shaw backpedaled 19 cents to $27.29.
Eldorado Gold was down 15 cents, or 3.5%, to $4.17, while gold rival Barrick slumped 12 cents to $16.01
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 5.66 points to 607.68.
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were positive by the close, as financials tallied 0.9%, health-care picked up 0.7%, and materials gained 0.4%.
The four laggards were weighed most by consumer staples, off 0.8%, while communications skidded 0.2%. gold each slid 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday, but notched weekly losses as investors worried the U.S.-China trade war is hurting economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrials advanced 95.22 points to 25,555.69, but still posted their fifth consecutive weekly decline, their longest since 2011.
The S&P 500 progressed 3.82 points to 2,826.06.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 8.73 points to 7,637.01
The Dow and S&P 500 came into Friday’s session down more than 1% each for the week while the NASDAQ had lost 2.4%.
The S&P 500 and NASDAQ were headed for a third straight week of losses, their longest since last December.
Even so, the indexes rebounded slightly from sharp losses on Thursday after President Donald Trump said Thursday afternoon the ongoing trade war could be over quickly.
Markets in the U.S. will be closed Monday for Memorial Day
Energy and tech were the worst-performing sectors for the week. The energy sector fell 3.4% while tech — the largest S&P 500 sector by market weight — lost 2.8%.
Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon he expected the U.S.-China trade war to end swiftly. He also noted a trade deal with China could lift tough restrictions on the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
Energy and tech are the worst-performing sectors for the week. The energy sector is down 4% while tech — the largest S&P 500 sector by market weight — has lost 2.6%.
Qualcomm docked 18.8%, and Broadcom lost 11.7%, making them the worst-performers in the sector.
Apple shares also contributed to the tech losses as several analysts raised concern over the company’s exposure to China. The stock was down 5.3% on the week.
U.S. durable goods orders dropped 2.1% last month amid a slowdown in exports and a buildup in inventories. This is the latest economic data set showing cracks in the economy while the world’s largest economies engage in a trade war. IHS Markit said Thursday that U.S. manufacturing activity fell to a nine-year low.
The data sets come at a time when investors are growing more convinced that the trade war will take longer than expected to conclude.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury backed off, raising yields to 2.32% from Friday’s 2.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 98 cents to $58.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped 90 cents to $1,284.50 U.S. an ounce.
