Equity markets in Canada opened higher on Friday, boosted by energy and mining stocks due to rising crude and metal prices, while investors assessed mixed earnings from big U.S. banks.
The TSX Composite shot higher 120.9 points to start Friday at 21,039.30.
The Canadian dollar eked ahead 0.12 cents to 74.87 cents U.S.
Meanwhile, Canaccord Genuity downgraded Lundin Mining Corp to "hold" from "buy." Lundin shares grabbed a nickel to $10.57.
Bank of Montreal appointed Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) Carrie Cook as global head of investment and corporate banking. RBC shares pushed ahead seven cents to $133.19.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange rebounded 6.12 points, or 1.1%, to begin trading at 556.41.
All but two of the 12 subgroups started off Friday with a bang, with gold shining 2.3% brighter, materials stronger by 1.5%, and energy rumbling 1.3%.
The two laggards proved to be financials, shying away 0.04%, and consumer discretionary stocks, off 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose slightly Friday as traders parsed through the first batch of fourth-quarter earnings while they digested the second in a pair of closely watched inflation reports this week.
The Dow Jones Industrials waned 130.68 points at 37,580.34.
The S&P 500 sagged 0.09 points to 4,780.15.
The NASDAQ squeezed ahead 4.32 points to 14,974.51.
On the week, the major averages are heading for modest gains. The Dow is up about 0.7%, while the S&P 500 is tracking for a 2.2% advance. The NASDAQ is the outperformer, up more than 3.5% through Thursday’s close.
Delta Air Lines fell more than 6% even after posting better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.
A slew of big banks also reported earnings before the bell on Friday. Bank of America lost 1% after posting declining fourth-quarter profit, while Wells Fargo shares shed more than 1.5% despite posting a higher profit for the quarterly period.
Citigroup, meanwhile, gained nearly 2% despite posting a $1.8-billion quarterly loss after incurring several large charges. Shares of JPMorgan Chase also rose, gaining more than 1.5% even after the bank said its earnings slipped by 15% from a year earlier.
Investors got some encouraging news on inflation Friday with wholesale prices unexpectedly declining by 0.1% in December. The data follows the more widely followed consumer prices data Thursday, which came in modestly hotter than economists had forecasted, with prices up 0.3% on the month and 3.4% from a year ago.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury jumped, lowering yields to 3.94% from Thursday’s 3.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added $1.99 to $74.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $45.20 to $2,064.40.
