Stocks in Toronto fell slightly on Friday, ending a winning streak at five sessions as energy stocks pulled back from a recent rally.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 14.3 points to close Friday and the week at 13,964.36
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.48 cents at 77.31 cents U.S.
Equity markets in Canada are shuttered Monday for Thanksgiving
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. surged 0.8% to $8.63, capping an 65% rally this week. The copper mining company said last Monday it will use proceeds from asset sales and other initiatives to reduce debt.
Goldcorp Inc. jumped 6.1%, to $18.75, and Barrick Gold Corp. increased 5.5% to $9.84 as gold jumped.
Commodities producers have rebounded as the U.S. dollar has weakened on bets the Federal Reserve will delay raising interest rates. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell for the sixth time in seven days.
Clearwater Seafoods Inc. climbed 7.8% to a three- week high of $11.19, after agreeing to buy Macduff Shellfish for £94.4-million, plus £4-million in debt.
Oil and gas shares shadowed seesawing crude oil prices, which at one point had their biggest rise in more than six years. The commodity was pinched by profit-taking, however, with investors closing positions ahead of the weekend.
TransCanada Corp was the biggest drag on the downside, sliding 1.7% to $45.05, while Encana Corp retreated 3.7% to $11.32.
Toronto-Dominion Bank led the financials retreat, dipping 0.9% to $53.05.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the economy created only 12,000 jobs in September, as the unemployment rate was boosted 0.1 percentage points to 7.1%., with more people taking part in the labour market.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 5.22 points to 552.36.
Eight of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher, as gold soared 3.7%, health-care gained 2.9%, and metals and mining were 2% to the good.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by energy, down 1.3%, consumer staples, off 0.8%, and financials, sliding 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher Friday, wrapping up a solid week of gains, as investors digested indications from the Fed on the timing of a rate hike ahead of earnings season.
The Dow Jones industrial average moved forward 16.1 points to close at 17,066.85, with UnitedHealth leading advancers and Intel the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 eked higher 1.24 points to 2,014.67, with information technology leading six sectors higher and telecommunications the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index gained 16.91 points to 4,827.70, with Apple trading more than 2% higher
The major indexes attempted to trade higher after briefly turning negative. They are on track for gains of about 2.5% or more for the week.
Traders also awaited the beginning of earnings season, which gets underway with JPMorgan results next Tuesday. Alcoa reported earnings after the close Thursday that missed on both the top and bottom line.
On the data front, import prices fell 0.1% in September, less than the expected 0.5% drop. However, export prices fell 0.7%, more than the 0.2% forecast by economists.
Wholesale trade for August showed a 0.1% increase in inventories, while wholesale sales declined 1%.
New York Fed President William Dudley told the media that the "international developments in August and financial developments in August raised some questions about the strength of the global outlook" and how that would affect the U.S. economy.
Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in a Reuters report Friday morning that a U.S. interest rate hike is still probably coming in October or December despite some conflicting economic signals, reinforcing the central bank's message.
Separately, the Chicago Fed's Charles Evans said in prepared remarks that what really matters is the path of the rate hikes, not the timing of liftoff. Evans has long called for deferring a rate hike to next year.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were up slightly, lowering yields to 2.10% from Thursday’s 2.11%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 16 cents a barrel to $49.59 U.S.
Gold prices rallied $18.48 to $1,157.49 U.S. an ounce.
