Toronto shares opened higher on Friday, led by gains in energy stocks as oil prices rose on hopes of economic stimulus from China and tighter crude supplies.
The TSX resumed its upward journey 50.15 points to open Friday’s session at 20,487.02.
The Canadian dollar sank 0.22 cents to 75.68 cents U.S.
Britain’s competition regulator said auto parts provider LKQ Corp’s $2.8-billion deal to buy Uni-Select Inc may be referred to a deeper investigation unless the companies offer acceptable undertakings to address related concerns.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported retail sales increased 0.2% to $66.0 billion in May. Sales increased in five of nine subsectors and were led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers and food and beverage retailers.
The national index increased 0.1% month over month in June, driven by price growth in two of Canada’s larger housing markets, Vancouver and Calgary.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.78 points to 615.85.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were firing on all cylinders in the first hour, with industrials and utilities each up 0.6%, while communications gained 0.5%.
The two laggards were health-care, down 0.3%, and materials, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were higher Friday as traders assessed the latest corporate earnings results, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tried to stretch its winning streak to 10 sessions.
The 30-stock index moved higher 88.73 points to kick off Friday at 35,313.91. The Dow is on pace for its 10th straight day of gains, a feat not seen for the key index since August 2017.
The S&P 500 forged ahead 13.29 points to 4,548.16.
The NASDAQ index recovered 39.24 points to 14,102.55.
Traders were still eyeing more corporate earnings after a busy week of quarterly results. Transportation giant CSX fell 5% on the back of underwhelming results. American Express, meanwhile, fell 3.6%.
Corporate earnings have been mixed thus far. Seventy-five percent of S&P 500 companies that have already reported exceeding analysts’ expectations, according to FactSet data. However, that beat rate is below a three-year average of 80%, according to The Earnings Scout.
The Dow is set to finish the week ahead 2.3%, and S&P 500 on pace to pick up 1%. The NASDAQ is up 0.4% week to date.
Trading is likely to be volatile Friday as portfolio managers recalibrate their funds to account for an unusual NASDAQ rebalance taking effect Monday. A large volume of index and stock options are also expiring Friday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 3.83% from Thursday’s 3.85%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 62 cents to $76.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $9.50 to $1,961.40 U.S. an ounce.
Dow Set to Run Streak to 10