Stocks moved toward week’s end on the positive side, owing largely to strength in consumer and tech stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 42.84 points to close the day and the week at to 16,531.04, a gain on the week of 46 points, or 0.27%
The Canadian dollar drooped 0.05 cents to 75.93 cents U.S.
Consumer staples moved highest, fastest of all, as George Weston sprinted $3.21, or 3.2%, to $104.21, while Alimentation Couche-Tard hopped $1.57, or 1.9%, to $83.20
Among tech concerns, BlackBerry headed higher 19 cents, or 2%, to $9.71, while Sierra Wireless triumphed 30 cents, or 1.9%, to $15.74.
Consumer discretionary issues also prospered, as The Stars Group starred 51 cents, or 2.4%, to $21.99, while Dollarama climbed, yes, one dollar, or 2.1%, to $49.55.
Energy turned south by day’s end, as CES Energy collapsed nine cents, or 4.3%, to $2.00, while Peyto Exploration sagged 17 cents, or 4.3%, to $3.76.
Gold lost ground, as Lundin Mining dropped 10 cents, or 1.5%, to $6.45, while Kirkland Lake Gold fell 31 cents to $58.72.
In health-care, Aphria plummeted 46 cents, or 6%, to $7.25, while HEXO Corp. dipped 13 cents, or 2.4%, to $5.24.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 1.16 points to 592.89, a gain on the week of 1.33 points, or 0.22%
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were positive on the day, with consumer staples ahead 1.4%, information technology up 1.2%, and discretionary stocks gaining 1%
The four laggards were led by energy, down 0.7%, gold, sliding 0.6%, and and health-care shedding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks climbed to all-time highs Friday, on firms loudly surpassing earnings projections.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 51.47 points Friday to 27,192.45. On the week, the increase of 34.86 points, or 0.13%
The S&P 500 picked up 22.19 points to 3,025.86, the much broader index gaining 49.25 points, or 1.65% on the week. The NASDAQ leaped 91.67 points, or 1.1%, to 8,330.21. The tech-heavy index had an eye-popping weekly gain of 183.72, or 2.25%. Both indexes reached all-time highs Friday.
Alphabet reported better-than-expected earnings Thursday and announced a massive $25-billion share repurchase program. The results and buyback sent the stock up 9.6%.
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 daily active users.
Consumer stocks such as Starbucks and McDonald’s also contributed to the gains. Starbucks gained 8.9% 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.
The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to start its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. An announcement on rates is set for Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.
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 15 cents to $56.17 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices pointed higher $2.20 to $1,416.90 U.S. an ounce.
