Canada's main stock index opened lower on Friday as Canadian officials expressed concern that a final North American Free Trade deal might not be concluded on Friday, according to a report.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 26.42 points to open Friday at 16,345.13
The Canadian dollar faded 0.42 cents to 76.6 cents
Canada and the U.S. will make a final push to iron out differences on a pact to modernize NAFTA on Friday, with Mexico on standby to return to talks, aimed at ending a year of hard-fought negotiations.
CIBC raised the target price on BRP Inc. to $79.00 from $69.00.
BRP dipped 84 cents, or 1.2%, to $69.38.
CIBC cut the target price on Hudbay Minerals to $10.00 from $12.00. Hudbay shares docked five cents to $6.16.
Morgan Stanley raised the target on Rogers Communications to $69.00 from $65.00. Rogers shares gained 47 cents to $68.26.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index declined 0.2% in July, led by lower prices for primary non ferrous metal products.
In the same month, the raw materials price index rose 0.7%, primarily due to higher prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.55 points to 723.97
Six of the 12 subgroups moved higher, as gold was 0.9% brilliant in price, while health-care hiked 0.8%, and information technology forged ahead 0.2%.
The five laggards were weighed most by energy, down 0.7%, while consumer discretionary and financial stocks each slipped 0.3%.
Industrial stocks were unchanged in the first hour of trade.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks struggled for gains Friday as the United States and Canada neared a key trade agreement deadline with no apparent resolution.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher 9.82 points to 25,996.74, with Goldman Sachs, Boeing and Chevron lagging.
The S&P 500 cleared breakeven by 2.34 points to 2,903.47
The NASDAQ gained 25.48 points to 8,113.84, thanks to strength in Apple and Amazon.
Apple gained 1% Friday while Amazon gained 0.6%.
Shares of Coca-Cola fell 0.4% Friday after the company said it agreed to buy coffee chain Costa for $5.1 billion including debt to further its venture into healthier drink options.
The move, which pits Coca-Cola against established coffee options at Starbucks and Nestle, will add Costa's almost 4,000 outlets to the world's largest soda company.
Despite Friday's mixed results, Wall Street is set to conclude a bullish month.
The Dow and the S&P 500 remain on track for their best August since 2014; the NASDAQ Composite was poised to clinch its best August since 2000. The Dow was up 2.2%, the S&P gained 3% and the NASDAQ had surged 5.4% for the month before the opening bell.
Trade concerns continued to weigh on investor sentiment this week following a report that the Trump administration remains committed to imposing tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods as soon as next week.
Trade-sensitive stocks such as Boeing and Caterpillar hit their session lows Thursday following the report. Shares of Boeing dropped 0.9% and Caterpillar fell 2% Thursday.
On the data front, the latest figures on consumer sentiment were due this morning.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 2.85% from Thursday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost 31 cents to $69.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices improved $3.60 to $1,208.60
