Equities in Toronto moved lower in midday trade on Friday as gains for gold miners on a push higher in bullion were offset by declines in some heavyweight banks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 36.23 points to greet noon at 15,374.50
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.17 cents to 74.32 cents U.S.
Gold miners were among the strongest gainers, as political uncertainty led investors to shun riskier assets in favor of the precious metal, pushing it to its highest in nearly four weeks.
Agnico Eagle Mining gained 2.2% to $66.45 and Goldcorp was up 0.9% at $18.42.
But Barrick Gold fell 0.5% to $21.86 after it said on Thursday that two mines at its majority-held Acacia Mining, which account for some 6% of Barrick's 2017 production guidance, are impacted by Tanzania's current concentrate export ban.
Several of the country's biggest banks pulled back after gains following their earnings reports earlier in the week, with Royal Bank of Canada down 0.3% to $93.42 and Toronto-Dominion Bank off 0.4% at $63.76.
BlackBerry Ltd rose 1.9% to $15.40 after announcing the final amount it will receive from Qualcomm in a royalty dispute
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recouped 4.55 points to 804.41
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower midday, with consumer staples and information technology each slipping 0.5%, and telecoms off 0.3%.
The three gainers were gold, up 0.8%, health-care, climbing 0.6%, and materials up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded mixed as on Friday investors geared up for the Memorial Day holiday weekend and digested key economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials remained negative 11.67 points to 21,064.73, with Home Depot weighing things down the most, and Walt Disney outperforming.
The S&P 500 gave back 0.86 points to 2,414.21, with real-estate leading seven sectors lower and consumer staples leading advancers.
The NASDAQ stepped back from Thursday’s lofty heights by 2.43 points to 6,202.83
Equities came into Friday's session riding a six-day winning streak, with the S&P and NASDAQ indexes notching record highs on Thursday.
Technology has been the best-performing sector this year, rising nearly 20% in the period. Leading the charge for the sector have been large-cap stocks such as Facebook, Netflix and Amazon, which have risen more than 30% in 2017. Amazon's stock was also within striking distance of reaching $1,000 per share.
Economically speaking, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.2% in the first quarter, an improvement from the first reading on economic growth.
Durable goods orders for April, meanwhile, fell less than expected.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped a mite, raising yields back to Thursday’s 2.25%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices poked higher 31 cents at $49.21 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $9.60 at $1,266.00 U.S. an ounce.
