Equities in Canada’s largest market fell on Friday as weakness in oil prices weighed on energy-sector shares, offsetting a gain in gold miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 111.85 points to greet noon at 15,152.79
The Canadian dollar added 0.37 cents to 79.77 cents U.S.
Oil prices dropped on Friday after a report from consultancy Petro-Logistics predicted higher production by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for July, renewing fears of oversupply in the market.
Canadian Natural Resources shed 2.4% to $37.25, and Suncor Energy fell 0.6% to $38.58.
However, shares of Encana advanced 1.7% to $12.38 after the natural gas producer reported a quarterly profit that topped expectations.
Gold mining were still in the red, despite rising gold prices which moved the index a little closer to breakeven. Goldcorp added 0.1% to $17.16.
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported inflation in this country rose 1.0% on a year-over-year basis in June, following a 1.3% increase in May. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index was unchanged in June, after being down 0.2% in May.
Also, the agency said retail sales hiked for the third consecutive month, rising 0.6% to $48.9 billion in May. StatsCan said sales were up in five of 11 sub-sectors, representing 56% of total retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 0.39 points to 764.92.
All 12 TSX subgroups were negative at lunch hour, with consumer discretionary stocks fading 1.2%, energy off 0.9%, and information technology issues docking 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Equities fell on Friday in New York, as General Electric led industrial stocks lower.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 58.66 points to 21,553.12 – though off its lows of the morning, with General Electric falling 3.1% to lead decliners.
The S&P 500 dipped 3.92 points to 2,469.53, with industrials and energy leading decliners.
The NASDAQ slipped 11.99 points to 6,378.01 from Thursday’s record high, endangering a 10-day winning streak.
Dow component GE reported better-than-expected quarterly results, but the stock fell more than 4% as sales fell 12% year-over-year. The drop in revenue came as weakness in GE's energy connections business offset strength in renewables and power units. GE also saw its net profit slump 58% year over year.
The three major indexes notched record highs this week as quarterly earnings from S&P 500 companies largely outperform expectations. Microsoft, Honeywell and Morgan Stanley are just a few of the companies that reported earlier this week.
Next week will be the busiest one this earnings season, with about 170 S&P 500 components scheduled to report. Investors will also turn their eyes towards Russia as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC countries meet to discuss compliance of agreed production cuts and how to bring down inventory levels.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose Friday, lowering yields to 2.23% from Thursday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices declined 79 cents to $46.13 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained six dollars to $1,251.50 U.S. an ounce.
