Toronto shares cruised to more than a two-month high on Friday, driven by energy stocks as oil prices rose on hopes of economic stimulus from China and tighter crude supplies.
The TSX hurtled higher 121.77 points to break for lunch at 20,558.64.
The Canadian dollar sank 0.25 cents to 75.65 cents U.S.
Shares of logistics provider Mullen Group rose $1.03, or 6.8%, to $16.14, after at least five brokerages raised price target on the stock.
Trulieve Cannabis shares fell 18 cents, or 3.2%, to $5.51, after the pot producer said Chief Financial Officer Tim Mullany has quit just 10 days after taking over the role, citing personal reasons.
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 4.11 points to 613.52.
All 12 TSX subgroups were in the green at noon hour, with communications and health-care skyrocketing 1.1%, while industrials were up 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 jumped 76.67 points to pause for lunch Friday at 35,301.85. 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 12.3 points to 4,547.17.
The NASDAQ index was positive 13.15 points to 14,076.16.
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.
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 88 cents to $76.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $8.10 to $1,962.80 U.S. an ounce.