Canada’s main stock index opened higher on Friday, driven by energy stocks, and was set to post a weekly gain, while Air Canada reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.
The TSX Composite index hiked 59.97 points to open the week’s last session at 20,157.49
The Canadian dollar gained 4.5 cents to 79.59 cents U.S.
Air Canada shares ended Thursday at $25.06.
Magna International said on Thursday it entered a deal to buy automotive technology firm Veoneer Inc in a deal valued at about $3.8 billion.
Magna started Friday at $107.01.
RBC cuts target price on Equitable Group to $161.00 from $169.00. Equitable Group shares added 21 cents at the outset to $138.38.
Cormark Securities raised price target on Fairfax Financial Holdings to $700.00 from $675.00. Fairfax shares were hoping to improve on a Thursday perch of $527.44.
National Bank of Canada initiates coverage on Magnet Forensics with outperform rating. Magnet closed Thursday at $27.25.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported retail sales declined 2.1% to $53.8 billion in May. The largest declines occurred at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-11.3%) and motor vehicle and parts dealers
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved backward 2.15 points to 907.81.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups got off on the right foot, as financials were richer 0.6%, information technology gained 0.4%, and industrials gathered 0.3%.
The three laggards were consumer discretionary, down 1%, while health-care ducked 0.8%, and gold dulled in price 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities rose Friday, as the major averages tried to post their fourth straight day of gains, overcoming concerns about economic growth earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials charged 157.21 points to start the day at 34,980.56, gaining for a fourth-straight day.
The S&P 500 regained 17.29 points to 4,384.77, on pace for a record close above the closing high set on July 12.
The NASDAQ added 37.96 points to 14,722.56.
The S&P 500 is up more than 1% for the week and the NASDAQ Composite is up roughly 2%. Both are also within 1% of their intraday
records. The Dow is up 0.8% for the week.
Strong earnings from tech stocks made investors optimistic ahead of reports next week from the biggest names in the sector. Twitter and Snap each jumped Thursday following better-than-expected second-quarter earnings reports. Twitter traded more than 2% higher, while Snap shot up 23%.
Facebook gained 2% on the results from its social media competitors. Alphabet added about 1%. Both report next week along with Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.
American Express reported better than expected quarterly results Friday morning, giving its shares a 4% boost.
Honeywell also reported strong earnings, though its stock is down 1%. Shares of Kimberly-Clark are down 3% after reporting earnings in line with Wall Street forecasts. It also cut its forecast for the year, citing higher costs and lower volumes.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys sagged, raising yields to 1.29% from Thursday’s 1.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices handed back 16 cents to $71.75 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices doffed $7.90 to $1,797.50 U.S. an ounce.