Baystreet.ca - Canada's main stock index was muted on Friday as gains in the heavyweight materials and financial sectors countered losses in energy shares, while mixed U.S. data weakened the upbeat sentiment around the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.
The TSX Composite Index was down 4.76 points, to break for lunch Friday at 23,027.96.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 cents to 72.95 cents U.S. Hydro One (TSX:H) has priced an offering of $1.2 billion of medium-term notes. Hydro One shares had recovered from morning losses, fighting its way back to Thursday’s close $44.28.
The financial sector was lifted by gains in Sprott Inc (TSX:SII) shares of $1.13, or 2%, to $57.56, after the investment management firm posted better-than-expected second-quarter profit.Elsewhere, New Gold (TSX:NGD) shares rose 16 cents, or 4.9%, to $3.46, after National Bank of Canada (TSX:NA) raised price target on the gold miner's stock.On the economic beat, Statistics Canada told us Manufacturing sales declined 2.1% in June, mainly on lower sales of transportation equipment, chemicals, and primary metals, while housing starts zoomed to 279,000 in July from 241,000 in June.
Also, Canadian investors increased their exposure to foreign securities by $16.4 billion in June, mainly in U.S. shares. Meanwhile, foreign acquisitions of Canadian securities slowed to $5.2 billion in June, down from significant investments in the previous two months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 3.17 points to 561.49.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups lost ground, weighed most by energy, skidding 0.6%, down 0.6%, while industrials and consumer discretionaries each faded 0.5%.
The four gainers were co-led by gold, progressing 1.5%, materials, up 0.8%, and financials, inching ahead 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks hovered near the flatline Friday as investors closed out the best week of 2024, part of a market comeback from a violent rout to begin August.
The Dow Jones Industrial index regained 47.26 points to reach midday Friday at 40,610.32.
The S&P 500 index gained 5.74 points to 5,548.96.
The NASDAQ garnered 28.41 points to 17,622.91.
For the week, The S&P 500 has added more than 3%, which puts the broad market index on track for its best week since November 2023. The NASDAQ is up 5% while the 30-stock Dow has advanced about 3%.
Shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) are among the biggest winners among technology stocks on the week with a gain of 17%. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has picked up 4% and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has advanced 3%.
Retail sales data released Thursday came in much stronger than economists expected, while weekly jobless claims fell. Both offered evidence that recession fears, which helped spark a global selloff earlier this month, were overblown. Inflation readings released earlier this week bolstered hopes that a soft landing scenario was still possible.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained a bit, lowering yields to 3.91% from Thursday’s 3.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.19 at $76.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices rallied $38.90 to $2,524.