Canada's main stock index see-sawed in morning trade on Friday, boosted by miners of gold and other metals but weighed by a retreat in banking stocks and oil-related weakness among energy companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite held onto 7.64 points to greet noon at 14,841.39, on track for a 0.6% loss on the week, after ending last week at a 16-month high.
The Canadian dollar added 0.01 cents to 74.71 cents U.S.
Among industrials, trucking and logistics company Transforce Inc advanced 6.9% to $29.03 after it said it would buy the truckload operations of XPO Logistics Inc.
The most influential gainer on the index was Barrick Gold, which rose 1.1% to $22.80. The world's biggest gold miner is in talks with two Chinese companies about potential deals involving some of its South American operations.
Heavyweight bank stocks fell, with Bank of Montreal down 0.5% to $85.65 after announcing a shakeup of its senior management team.
Colliers International Group fell 11.3% to $47.02 after the commercial real estate company's quarterly profit and revenue missed expectations.
The financials and energy groups each lost ground. Together, the two sectors account for more than half of the index's weight.
Imperial Oil declined 1.7% to $44.12, even as its quarterly profit beat on lower costs.
Copper prices advanced 0.8% to $4,829.50 a tonne.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.29 points to 774.90
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, with industrials moving ahead 0.7%, while information technology and consumer discretionaries each up 0.4%.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, sliding 1.1%, while gold dulled 0.6% in price, and real-estate skidded 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher on Friday as industrials led, following the release of key economic data while a number of major companies posted quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrials strengthened 73.45 points to 18,243.13, with Chevron contributing the most gains, offsetting losses in Merck.
The S&P 500 gained 6.42 points at 2,139.46, with information technology and industrials leading advancers.
The NASDAQ composite index regained 11.63 points to 5,227.60, shrugging off losses in biotech and Amazon.
Earlier, the three major indexes dipped below the flatline before holding higher. The S&P and NASDAQ were both on track to post slight weekly losses, while the Dow eyed small gains.
Meanwhile, the corporate earnings season continued on Friday, with energy behemoths Chevron and ExxonMobil both posting mixed quarterly results. Other firms that reported on Friday include AbbVie, Hershey and Goodyear Tire.
On Thursday afternoon, Amazon posted mixed quarterly results, with sales eking above consensus and profits falling well short of estimates. In the late-morning trade Friday, Amazon shares were down about 4%. Companies scheduled to report quarterly results include Kellogg, Pfizer, Gilead Sciences, Herbalife and Alibaba.
The Commerce Department reported this morning that U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.9% in the third quarter, the fastest economic growth in two years.
Economists had forecast gross domestic product rising at a 2.5% annual rate in the third quarter.
Despite the moderation in consumer spending, the third-quarter rise in growth could help dispel any lingering fears the economy was at risk of stalling. Over the first half of the year, growth had averaged just 1.1%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were flat, keeping yields at Thursday’s 1.85%.
Oil prices were lower 52 cents to $49.20 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices improved $1.30 to $1,267.90 U.S. an ounce.
