Canada's main stock index rose midday Friday, a session after stocks suffered their worst session in nearly 11 weeks, as the heavyweight energy sector jumped about 5% on higher oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index came off their highs of the morning, but had still gained 118.16 points to pause for lunch at 15,169.08.
The Canadian dollar nicked ahead 0.09 cents at 73.44 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Shawcor, which jumped 84 cents, or 31.7%, to $3.49, and Secure Energy Services, which rose 17 cents, or 11.6%, to $1.64.
Pretium Resources fell 41 cents, or 3.5%, the most on the TSX, to $11.25, and the second biggest decliner was ECN Capital, down eight cents, or 1.8%, to $4.27.
Economically speaking, a flash estimate showed Canada's producer prices gained 1.2% in May from April, the first increase recorded this year, led by strong gains in meat prices as the COVID-19 pandemic closed down packing plants.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 9.87 points, or 1.8%, to 554.07
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups recovered in midday trading, as real-estate stocks sprinted 1.7%, while utilities and financials each heightened 1.3%.
The two laggards proved to be gold, down 0.6%, and materials, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday, clawing back some of the sharp losses from Wall Street’s worst day since March.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained afloat 34.131 points, or 1.4%, to 25,469.48.
The S&P 500 restocked 31.8 points, or 1.1%, to 3,033.90.
The NASDAQ maintained positive readings of 88.55 points to 9,581.27.
Despite those gains, the major averages were all on pace to post their first weekly losses in four weeks. The Dow and S&P 500 are both down more than 5% week to date while the NASDAQ has lost 2.4%.
Investors on Friday went right back into the plays whose fates hinge on a successful reopening of the economy.
Carnival Corp jumped 6.7%. United Airlines climbed 9.2%. Other winners included brick-and-mortar retailers Kohl’s and Gap. Those stocks were hit big time during Thursday’s selloff as investors feared the reopening of the economy could be delayed by a second wave of cases.
The Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ on Thursday all recorded their biggest one-day losses since mid-March, posting losses of at least 5%.Thursday’s declines put the Dow and S&P 500 on pace for their biggest weekly losses since March 20, when they all dropped at least 12% amid broad economic shutdowns stemming from the pandemic.
Thursday’s losses came after data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed the number of new coronavirus cases has risen in states like Arizona, South Carolina and Texas as they continue their reopening process. Arizona cases have nearly doubled since Memorial Day.
Overall, more than two million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S. along with over 100,000 deaths.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury fell slightly, raising yields to 0.69% from Thursday’s 0.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank eight cents to $36.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained 40 cents to $1,740.20 U.S. an ounce.
