A slide in Canada’s main stock index halted on Friday but it was still on course to snap a four-week winning streak, pulled down by energy stocks as oil prices tumbled on fears of slowing global growth and rising COVID-19 cases.
The TSX/S&P Composite surged 77.68 points to reach noon EDT Friday at 20,293.04.
The Canadian dollar doffed 0.13 cents to 77.81 cents U.S.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Lithium Americas Corp, up $1.01, o4 4.9%, to $21.50, and luxury parka maker Canada Goose Holdings, rising 48 cents, or 1,1% to $46.24.
Canfor fell 71 cents, or 2.9%, the most on the TSX, to $24.17, while the second-biggest decliner was MAG Silver down eight cents to $22.21.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported new home prices in Canada (composite of 27 census metropolitan areas) grew at their slowest pace since December 2020.
Elsewhere, retail sales were up 4.2% to $56.2 billion in June. The agency said sales were up in eight out of 11 sub-sectors, led by higher sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.35 points to 865.67.
All 12 TSX subgroups were positive midday, with health-care surging 1.6%, materials and utilities each better by 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Major U.S. stock averages rebounded Friday while markets remained on track for a losing week driven by fears of the Federal Reserve pulling back its stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrials progressed 187.27 points to 35,081.39.
The S&P 500 climbed 26.11 points to 4,431.91.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 110.95 points to 14,652.34.
Technology stocks traded in the green Friday, providing the market with support. Microsoft, Salesforce and Apple were the three biggest gainers in the Dow as investors snapped up tech stocks amid concerns about slowing economic growth. Chip stocks rose, with Nvidia among the NASDAQ’s top winners.
Tesla shares gained after Elon Musk’s electric car maker had an AI day, where it unveiled a new custom chip and plans to build a humanoid robot. The stock is down more than 5% this week as investors worried about growth in China, one of the electric vehicle maker’s key markets.
Boeing, Caterpillar and other names closely dependent on the global economy remained in the red Friday as well.
Still, all three major stock indexes are on track to close the week lower. The S&P 500 is down 0.8% for the week, while the Dow is off 1.4% and the NASDAQ is 0.9% lower.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys lost ground, raising yields to 1.25% from Thursday’s 1.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 61 cents to $62.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shrank $2.10 to $1,785.20 U.S. an ounce.
Stocks Make Headway on Day, Should Still Fall Short on Week