Stocks in Canada’s largest market picked themselves up by their own bootstraps and moved into positive country to end the week, largely on the strength of gold and utility concerns.
The TSX gathered 41.57 points to end Friday at 19,501.49. On the week, the index took on 113 points, or 0.6%.
The Canadian dollar eased back 0.09 cents to 72.80 cents U.S.
Among utilities, Algonquin Power and Utilities jumped 35 cents, or 3.3%, to $10.98, while Fortis surged $1.60, or 2.9%, to $56.12.
Gold had a solid finish, with OceanaGold shining 13 cents brighter, or 4.1%, to $3.27, while NovaGold picked up 20 cents, or 2.5%, to $2.50.
Staples were also respectable, as Jamieson Wellness added 47 cents, or 1.5%, to $31.80, while Primo Water prospered 29 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.88.
Energy weighed things down, however, with Suncor faltering 69 cents, or 1.7%, to $39.84, while Crescent Point Energy lost 15 cents, or 1.7%, to $8.87.
In tech issues, HUT 8 Mining swooned 23 cents, or 8.8%, to $2.39, while Lightspeed Commerce forfeited 72 cents, or 3.4%, to $20.35.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Aritzia gave up $1.45, or 3.6%, to $39.06, while BRP Inc. slipped $1.76, or 1.7%, to $103.24.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported retail sales hiked 1.4% to $66.4 billion in January. Sales increased in seven of nine subsectors and were led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations and fuel vendors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX turned course and gained 3.23 points Friday to 611.88. Gain on the week was 6.8 points, or 1.12%.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with utilities rising 1.6%, gold up 1.5%, and consumer staples ahead 0.7%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by energy and information technology, each fading 0.5%, and consumer discretionary stocks, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Friday, reversing their earlier session declines as Deutsche Bank shares pared back some losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials surged 132.28 points to 32,237.53.
The S&P 500 gained 22.27 points to 3,970.99.
The NASDAQ Composite cruised 36.56 points higher to 11,823.96.
The major indexes all had a winning week, with the Dow gaining 0.4% week-to-date as of Friday afternoon, while the S&P 500 progressed 1.4%, and NASDAQ gained 1.6%.
Deutsche Bank’s U.S.-listed shares slid 3.11% Friday, rebounding from a 7% drop earlier in the trading session. A selloff of shares was triggered after the German lender’s credit default swaps jumped, but without an apparent catalyst. The move appeared to raise concerns once again over the health of the European banking industry. Earlier this month, Swiss regulators forced a UBS acquisition of rival Credit Suisse. Deutsche Bank shares traded off their worst levels of the session, which caused major U.S. indexes to also cut their losses.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde tried to ease concerns, saying euro zone banks are resilient with strong capital and liquidity positions. Lagarde said the ECB could provide liquidity if needed.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained a marginal amount of ground, lowering yields to 3.37% from Thursday’s 3.40%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sagged 78 cents to $69.18 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $16.30 to $1,979.60 U.S. an ounce.