Canada's main stock index opened higher on Friday, led by commodity linked stocks as crude and metal prices gained on hopes of a demand recovery in China following an easing of COVID curbs.
The TSX Composite rumbled 75.03 points to kick off the week’s last session at 20,044.22.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.23 cents at 73.28 cents U.S.
The benchmark Canadian index has closed lower for five straight sessions and appears set to record its biggest weekly drop in more than two months, with the energy sector, down 7.5% for the week, among the biggest drags.
Pakistan's Supreme Court endorsed a settlement for Barrick Gold to resume mining at the Reko Diq project, one of the world's largest underdeveloped sites of copper and gold deposits. Barrick shares
On the research front, Credit Suisse cut Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's rating to "neutral" from "outperform".
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 1.83 points to 583.57.
All but one of the 12 subgroups were higher, as information technology picked up 1%, while materials grabbed 0.7%, and gold shone brighter 0.6%.
Only consumer discretionary stocks faltered, and 0.6% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Friday and headed for weekly losses as worries over continued rate hikes persisted.
The Dow Jones Industrials shed 96.75 points to 33,684.73, putting it on pace for its worst week since September.
The S&P 500 dropped 6.16 points to 3,957.35
The NASDAQ shed 20.77 points to 11,061.24.
The Dow is off by 2% this week, while the S&P 500 has fallen 2.7%. The NASDAQ has lost 3.4%.
Friday’s moves came as November’s producer price index showed higher-than-expected wholesale prices, which rose 0.3% last month and 7.4% over the previous year. That topped the 0.2% gain expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.4%, beating an estimate of 0.2%.
Shares of Lululemon fell after the company gave a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter outlook. Bath & Body Works’ stock gained as Dan Loeb revealed a boost in his stake.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 3.55% from Thursday’s 3.49%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved up 70 cents to $72.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices progressed $8.20 to $1,809.70 U.S. an ounce.
