Stocks in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Friday, aided by gains in health-care and technology stocks, en route to its second straight weekly rise.
The S&P/TSX Composite advanced 66.33 points in Friday’s first hour to 21,648.31
The Canadian dollar regained 0.02 cents at 79.45 cents U.S.
SNC-Lavalin Group’s chief executive officer has postponed an almost entirely English-language speech scheduled for next week in Montreal as French-language skills of Quebec’s non-francophone business executives come under scrutiny.
ATB Capital Markets raised the price target on Ag Growth International to $54.00 from $52.00. Ag Growth picked up 24 cents to $33.22.
National Bank of Canada cuts price target on Canadian Tire to $221.00 from $225.00. Canadian Tire shares sagged $1.62 to $178.85.
Scotiabank raised the target price on Power Corporation of Canada to $49.00 from $48.00. Power shares were static at $42.60.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange pulled ahead 10.05 points to 1,015.92.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups began the session in plus country, with health-care haler 2.8%, information technology clicking 1.6% higher, and consumer discretionary stocks up 0.9%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy and utilities, each down 0.2%, and gold, off 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks moved slightly higher Friday, but are on pace to snap a five-week winning streak after a hotter-than-expected inflation reading came out Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials captured 31.9 points to open Friday at 35,953.13,
The S&P 500 crept up 5.45 points to 4,654.29.
The NASDAQ Composite jumped 39.13 points to 15,704.28.
The Dow and the S&P 500 are both down nearly 1%, while the NASDAQ is about 1.4% lower.
Dow component Johnson & Johnson saw its shares rise more than 1% following a Wall Street Journal report that the company is splitting in two. Johnson & Johnson is reportedly breaking off its consumer health division into a separate publicly-traded company.
Fresh data out Friday morning underscored persistent inflation fears.
Consumer sentiment in early November dropped to its lowest level in a decade, the University of Michigan reported Friday. Many survey respondents cited inflation concerns, according to the report.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys gained ground Friday, lowering yields to 1.55%, from 1.56% on Wednesday. The bond market was closed Thursday for Veterans Day. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 81 cents to $80.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up two dollars to $1,865.30 U.S. an ounce.