Equities in Canada’s largest market celebrated Friday with triple-digit gains, expressing relief over the prospect of a treatment for the coronavirus and of the U.S. economy opening up again soon.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index leaped 460.56 points, or 3.3%, to close Friday and the week at 14,359.88. On the week, the index gained 193 points, or 1.36%.
The Canadian dollar nosed up 0.05 cents to 71.28 cents U.S.
Energy came out of its shell to flex its muscles, most notably, MEG Energy, up 43 cents, or 18.8%, to $2.72, while Shawcor improved 20 cents, or 11.6%, to $1.93.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, The Stars Group finished a strong week with a gain of $4.87, or 16.1%, to $35.16, and Spin Master hiked $1.62, or 8.9%, to $19.80.
In techs, Sierra Wireless jumped two dollars, or 20.9%, to $11.57, while Shopify strengthened $81.76, or 11%, to $823.18.
Resources pointed downward, as B2Gold dropped 40 cents, or 6.1%, to $6.14, while Alacer Gold decreased 53 cents, or 8.1%, to $6.02.
Endeavour Mining shed $1.87, or 7.3%, to $23.86, while Silvercorp Metals docked 41 cents, or 8%, to $4.71.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.53 points to 444.87 Friday, but gained 22.9 points, or 5.43% on the week.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive to end the session with energy stocks hurtling 6.4% higher, consumer discretionary sprinting 5.9%, while information technology clicked 5.2% higher.
The laggards were in gold, down 2.8%, and materials, off 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks surged on Friday after a report said a Gilead Sciences drug showed some effectiveness in treating the coronavirus, giving investors some hope there could be a treatment solution that helps the country reopen faster from the widespread shutdowns that have plunged the economy into a recession.
The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 704.81 points, or 3%, to close the week at 24,242.49, the index’s first close above 24,000 since March 10.
The S&P 500 advanced 75.01 points, or 2.7%, to 2,874.56.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 117.78 points, or 1.4%, to 8,650.14.
Friday’s gain led the S&P 500 to its first back-to-back weekly gains since early February. The broader market index climbed 3% for the week while the Dow gained 2.2%. The NASDAQ advanced 6.1% week to date. Through Friday’s close, the major averages were all up more than 25% from their late-March lows.
Boeing shares jumped 14.7% after the airplane maker said it would resume production in the Seattle area as early as April 20. The company also said Friday it would resume operations in the Philadelphia area.
Gilead shares jumped 9.7% after reports of coronavirus patients being treated at a Chicago hospital with remdesivir in a trial were recovering rapidly from severe symptoms. The publication cited a video it obtained where the trial results were discussed.
Other studies have shown remdesivir to be an effective treatment against the coronavirus. However, they have been smaller in scale. Gilead itself also cautioned that anecdotal reports are not enough to determine yet whether the drug will be an effective treatment.
Investors also trimmed positions in work-from-home plays such as Amazon, Netflix and Walmart. Amazon dipped 1.4% while Netflix fell 3.7%. Walmart slid 0.2%. Still, Amazon and Netflix closed up more than 14% for the week while Walmart gained 8.5%.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that "our experts say the curve has flattened and the peak … is behind us."
He also issued guidelines to open up parts of the U.S. Thursday night, which identifies the circumstances necessary for areas of the country to allow employees to start returning to work. The decision to lift restrictions will ultimately be made by state governors.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 0.65% from Thursday’s 0.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.73 to $18.14 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $36.70 to $1,695.00 U.S. an ounce.
