Stocks in Canada’s largest market attempted to bounce back from a two-day slide on Friday, as expectations of further stimulus from global central banks eased concerns of an economic slowdown.
The S&P/TSX Composite increased their gain to 132.91 points to greet noon at 16,145.44
The Canadian dollar regained 0.19 at 75.29 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were cannabis producers Aphria Inc, which jumped 33 cents, or 4.2%, to $8.20 followed by gains in Hexo Corp, which rose 28 cents, or 4.9%, to $5.97.
Bombardier fell two cents, or 1.3%, the most on the TSX, to $1.57, after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the planemaker's stock.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that foreigners reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $4 billion in June, the third divestment in four months.
At the same time, Canadian investment in offshore securities increased to $6.6 billion, what the agency calls the largest investment since October 2018.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 0.92 points to 569.70.
All but two of 12 Toronto subgroups gained ground by noon ET, with health-care haler by 2.5%, information technology gathered 1.4%, and energy, better by 1.3%.
The two laggards were gold, down 1.2%, and materials, off 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied on Friday as a rebound in bond yields eased some of the recession fears. The gains closed out a wild week on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrials screamed higher 270.66 points, or 1.1%, to 25,850.05. The 30-stock index was on track, however, to lose 1.6% on the week.
The S&P 500 gained 37.28 points, or 1.3%, to 2,885.24
The NASDAQ vaulted 117.8 points, or 1.5%, to 7,884.59. Apple and Nvidia led the gains.
Bond yields, which rattled the markets this week, climbed back from their historic lows on Friday. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield dropped to a record low on Thursday, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year notes dipped to a three-year low, as investors sought out safe-haven assets.
Bank stocks rallied along with the rise in bond yields on Friday as Bank of America and Citigroup both gained more than 2.5%.
Chip maker Nvidia’s stock jumped nearly 6% on Friday after it reported better-than-expected fiscal-second quarter earnings.
General Electric, which had its worst day in 11 years Thursday on Madoff whistleblower’s fraud claims, rebounded on Friday after CEO Larry Culp called the accusation “market manipulation” and bought nearly $2 million worth of the company’s stock. Shares of GE surged more than 8%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, lifting yields to 1.56% from Thursday’s 1.5%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices moved upward 24 cents to $54.71 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $8.80 to $1,522.40 U.S. an ounce.
