Markets in Canada’s largest centre finished Friday solidly in the red, mostly on weakness in the energy and consumer discretionary sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 81.51 points to close the day and the week at 15,183.13
The Canadian dollar added 0.36 cents to 79.76 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 87 cents, or 2.3% to $37.31, and Suncor Energy fell 39 cents, or 1%, to $38.43.
However, shares of Encana advanced 23 cents, or 1.9%, to $12.40, after the natural gas producer reported a quarterly profit that topped expectations.
Among consumer discretionary issues, Canadian Tire shed 36 cents to $143.56, while Magna International tumbled $1.73, or 2.8%, to $59.71.
In the industrial field, Bombardier dipped three cents, or 1.3%, to $2.36, while Air Canada faltered 80 cents, or 4%, to $19.08.
Telecoms provided one of the few beacons on a bleak Friday afternoon, as Rogers Communications climbed 93 cents, or 1.4%, to $65.81, while Corus Enertainment was unchanged at $13.72.
Gold mining barely made their way into the green, despite rising gold prices. Goldcorp added nine cents to $17.23, while Kinross Gold gathered six cents, or 1.2%, to $5.28. .
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 skidded 3.65 points to 760.88.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative by the closing bell, with energy shedding 1.3% of its strength, consumer discretionary stocks fading 1.1%, and industrials off 0.7%.
The two gainers were telecoms, up 0.3%, and gold, nosing up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Friday as General Electric led industrial stocks lower.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 31.71 points to 21,580.07, with General Electric falling 2.9% to lead decliners.
The S&P 500 lost 0.91 points to 2,472.54, with industrials and energy leading decliners.
The NASDAQ slipped 2.25 points from Thursday’s record high to 6,387.75, ending 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 earlier 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.
Calendar second-quarter earnings have mostly exceeded expectations this far. With 20% of S&P 500 companies having reported, 73% have beaten expectations and 77% have beaten on sales
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 eked higher Friday, lowering yields to 2.24% from Thursday’s 2.26%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices declined $1.24 to $45.68 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $9.10 to $1,254.60 U.S. an ounce.
