Baystreet.ca - Canada's main stock index opened higher on Friday as investors cheered softer retail sales data which cemented bets of a June interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada, while resource stocks led gains on higher commodity prices.
The TSX jumped 131.80 points to begin Friday at 22,332.59. The Canadian dollar hiked 0.39 cents at 73.21 cents U.S. On a weekly basis, the benchmark index looks set for its biggest drop since mid-April, having dipped 141 points, or 0.6% since last Friday.
In corporate news, shares of cloud commerce solution provider Lightspeed Commerce (TSX:LSPD) climbed 5.3% to the top of TSX after CIBC (TSX:CM) upgraded its rating to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and hiked its price target on the stock.In matters economic, retail sales decreased 0.2% to $66.4 billion in March. On a weekly basis, the benchmark S&P/TSX index looks set for its biggest drop since mid-April. Traders now anticipate the Bank of Canada to cut interest rates at its June 5 monetary policy meeting with a 60% probability, owing to the drop in inflation and lackluster economic growth.
ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 4.29 points to 606.12.All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher by noon, with gold better by 1%, energy gained 0.9%, and materials moved up 0.8%. The lone laggard proved to be communications, which lost 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET Stocks ticked higher Friday as traders headed toward the end of a choppy week.The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 79.69 points to 39,144.95. The S&P 500 regained 34.23 points to 5,302.20.The NASDAQ vaulted 168.95 points, or 1%, to 16,905.01. Week to date, the S&P 500 up just 0.1%, while the Dow is on pace to drop about 2%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ is the outperformer, with a gain of 1.4%.Shares of Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) fell more than 13% Friday after the company reduced its subscription revenue guidance for the full year.
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) also fell 8% on weak forward guidance. Meanwhile, Deckers (NYSE:DECK) Outdoor surged 13% after posting an earnings and revenue beat.The rise in the artificial intelligence darling did not help the market, with the three major averages ending Thursday’s session lower. The Dow suffered its worst session since March 2023.Demand for durable goods was much higher than expected in April, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Orders for long-lasting items such as appliances, cars and airplanes rose 0.7% for the month, slightly below the 0.8% increase in March but far better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for a 1% decline. Excluding transportation items, orders still accelerated 0.4%. However, new orders were flat, excluding defense.Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged from Thursday’s 4.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil prices advanced 80 cents to $77.67 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices slid $1.80 to $2,335.40.