Canada's main stock index gained on Friday, driven by a rise in the energy sector as oil companies hoped to reach an agreement with the Alberta government to boost production.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 56.86 points by noon ET to 16,545.06
The Canadian dollar drooped 0.15 cents to 75.83 cents U.S.
The main index is on track to end the week in the green with a 0.3% gain so far.
The top percentage gainers on the TSX were CannTrust Holdings, which jumped 31 cents, or 12%, to $2.89, after it fired Chief Executive Officer Peter Aceto, more than two weeks after Health Canada found the marijuana producer grew cannabis in unlicensed rooms.
Canfor Corp fell 54 cents, or 4.9%, the most on the TSX, to $10.39, followed by shares of Interfor Corp, down 45 cents, or 3.5%, to $12.43.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.34 points to 594.07
All but three of the 12 Toronto subgroups remained buoyant by lunch hour Friday, with information technology up 1.5%, consumer staples towering 1.1%, and discretionary stocks gaining 0.9%
The three laggards were energy and health-care, each shedding 0.4%, and gold, dulling in price 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday after strong earnings from big tech companies such as Alphabet and Intel while the U.S. economy grew at a better-than-expected clip in the second quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 29.33 points to 27,170.31,
The S&P 500 picked up 20.05 points to 3,023.72. The NASDAQ leaped 87.49 points, or 1.1%, to 8,326.03. Both indexes reached all-time highs around midday Friday.
For the week, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ were headed for solid gains. The S&P was up 1.6% week to data, while NASDAQ prospered 2.2%. The Dow, meanwhile, is up about 0.1%.
lphabet reported better-than-expected earnings Thursday and announced a massive $25-billion share repurchase program. The results and buyback sent the stock up 10.4%.
Intel gained 0.8% on earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations. Client Computing, the company’s biggest division, generated $8.84 billion in sales, topping estimates of $8.13 billion.
Twitter shares gained more than 8% on the back of second-quarter results that topped estimates. The social media company also reported a 14% rise in monetizable daily active users.
Consumer stocks such as Starbucks and McDonald’s also contributed to the gains. Starbucks gained 7.1% after reporting same store-sales growth for the previous quarter that crushed estimates. McDonald’s climbed 0.5% as promotions led better-than-expected U.S. same-store sales.
More than 40% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly earnings for the second quarter. Of those companies, 76.4% have posted a stronger-than-forecast profit.
Information released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed the stateside economy expanded by 2.1% in the second quarter. The broadest measure of the U.S. economy was expected to come in at 1.8%, according to economists surveyed.
Growth was driven by a 4.3% increase in consumer expenditures, which offset a 5.5% slump in business investment.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury demurred, lifting yields to 2.07% from Thursday’s 2.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 30 cents to $56.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.30 to $1,418 U.S. an ounce.
