Baystreet.ca - Equities in Canada’s largest market made the most of the time following the Christmas/New Year’s holiday, and surged Friday to daily and weekly gains.
The TSX gained 175.51 points to close Friday at 25,073.54; on the abbreviated week, the index gained 277 points, or 1.12%.
The Canadian dollar shed 0.20 cents to 69.22 cents U.S.
Communications led the pack, powered mostly by shares of BCE (TSX:BCE), surging 79 cents, or 2.4%, to $34.32, while Rogers gained 86 cents, or 2%, to $44.63.
In real-estate, Colliers International (TSX:CIGI) hiked $3.42, or 1.8%, to $196.95, while units of Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT (TSX:NWH_u) tacked on eight cents, or 1.8%, to $4.54.
In industrials, Bombardier (TSX:BBDb) popped $3.37, or 3.5%, to $100.08, while shares in Cargojet (TSX:CJT) took flight $3.38, or 3.1%, to $112.38.
Gold let the side down, though, as Torex Gold (TSX:TXG) dropped 73 cents, or 2.5%, to $28.63, while OceanaGold (TSX:OGC) faltered eight cents, or 2%, to $4.03,
In materials, Algoma Steel (TSX:ASTL) surrendered $1.05, or 7.5%, to $12.93, while Silvercrest Metals sank 34 cents, or 2.4%, to $13.82.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shot higher 5.94 points, or 1%, to 623.29, for a ride upward of 25.4 points, or 4.25%.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups gained ground, with communications ahead 1.6%, real-estate stronger 1.3%, and industrials improving 0.9%.
The lone laggard was gold, sliding 0.5%, while materials were unchanged.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks closed higher Friday as Wall Street recovered following a shaky start to the new year.
The Dow Jones Industrials popped 339.86 points to 42,732.13.
The S&P 500 spiked 73.92 points, or 1.3%, to 5,942,47.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 340.88 or 1.8%, to 19,621,68.
Tech stocks were a bright spot for the market on Friday. Chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) climbed 4.7%, while server maker Super Micro Computer jumped 10.9%.
Those stocks could benefit from continued spending on artificial intelligence, as will Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) and Vistra, with shares up 4% and 8.5%, respectively. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced Friday that it would spend $80 billion on AI-enabled data centers in the 2025 fiscal year, and power producers have been boosted by the trend.
Friday’s move came off a choppy trading session on Thursday that saw stocks close lower after a morning rally. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have fallen for five straight trading sessions, their longest losing streak since April of last year.
Stocks are on pace to close out the week with losses even with Friday’s gains. The 30-stock Dow dipped 0.5% and the S&P 500 was lower by around 0.5%. The NASDAQ Composite has dropped 0.6%.
Both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ announced this week that they plan to close their equity and options markets next Thursday in observance of a National Day of Mourning for the 39th U.S. president and global humanitarian
On the economic data front, the ISM Manufacturing Index came in at 49.3 for December. That is above expectations of 48.0, according to Dow Jones, but is still below the level of 50 that signifies expansion in the sector.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, raising yields to 4.60% from Thursday’s 4.56 %. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked 90 cents to $74.03 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold declined $17.10 an ounce to $2,651.90 U.S.