Canada's main stock index climbed to a more-than-one-month high on Friday, led by gains in materials and energy shares, while investors assessed Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem's warning on persistent energy-price pressures on interest rates.
The TSX Composite Index soared 201.26 points to reach noon Friday at 36,338.36. On the week so far, the index has triumphed 673 points, or 1.89%.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.25 cents to 70.70 cents U.S.
Macklem said Canada has not raised interest rates yet but the longer elevated energy prices go on "the harder that gets"
The BoC is not expected to raise interest rates at its next monetary policy decision announcement on October 28, but money markets are pricing in a rate hike of 25 basis points in December,
The consumer discretionary sector climbed, led by Aritzia rising 21 cents, to $150.56, after Scotiabank resumed coverage with a 'sector outperform' rating
On the economic scene, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported that the number of home sales recorded over Canadian MLS® Systems fell by 2.3% month-over-month in September.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts at 248,896 vs. 220,000 expected and 242,223 in August.
Statistics Canada reported Canadian investors acquired $23.9 billion of foreign securities in August, led by purchases of U.S. shares.
Meanwhile, foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $17.3 billion, led by an unprecedented divestment in federal government debt instruments.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 5.57 points, to 851.95. The week’s loss, however, is 26 points, or 2.85%.
All but three of the 12 subgroups were in plus territory, led by gold, up 1.4%, while energy rumbled 1.2% and materials grabbed 1.1%.
The three laggards were information technology, sliding 2%, health-care, off 0.3%, and industrials dropped 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were mixed on Friday as traders headed for a mostly losing week amid a rotation out of tech and artificial intelligence-related names.
The Dow Jones Industrial index leaped 145.39 points to 52,323.08
The S&P 500 index retreated 27.01 points to 7,717.05
The tech-heavy NASDAQ subtracted 289.37 points to 26,423.66.
Chipmakers were lower again, led by declines in Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices and Sandisk. Semiconductors have struggled this week amid jitters about competition from China.
Those declines, coupled with drops in other stocks linked to artificial intelligence, put the S&P 500 on pace for a losing week. The benchmark index is down 0.9% this week, while the NASDAQ has shed about 3%. The Dow, on the other hand, has moved higher by more than 1% on the week.
Tesla shares were a bright spot in tech, however, rising 1% after the electric vehicle maker unveiled its next-generation roadster. To be sure, the model won’t go into production until 2028.
Other areas of the market such as financials saw gains. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs advanced around 2% and more than 1%, respectively.
Additionally, shares of sporting goods retailer Nike and drugmaker Merck each climbed more than 1%, adding to the Dow’s rise.
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh spoke at an International Monetary Fund event in Bangkok overnight. And while he didn’t comment on whether the Fed would raise rates before year-end, traders took that as a sign that the central bank will hold policy steady later this month.
The CME Group’s FedWatch tool points to an 85% chance the Fed keeps its overnight rate unchanged at its Oct. 27-28 meeting.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were lower, poking up yields to 5.09% from Thursday’s 5.08%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost a penny to $97.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $24.60 to $4,194.70 U.S. an ounce.
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