Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, lifted by energy stocks as oil prices hit a one-and-a-half-month high on signs of crude demand picking up.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index had increased its gains to 93.15 points by noon hour to 14,603.51.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.23 cents to 70.96 cents U.S.
Markets in Canada will be closed Monday for Victoria Day
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Aurora Cannabis Inc, which jumped $6.56, or 71.3%, to $15.76, after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly revenue.
Its gains were followed ECN Capital Corp, which rose 56 cents, or 16.9%, to $3.87 after the finance company reported first-quarter results.
The luxury apparel maker Canada Goose Holdings Inc fell $1.95, or 6.7%, to $27.03, after BofA Global Research downgraded its shares.
The second biggest decliner was the oil producer Frontera Energy Corp, down 17 cents, or 5.1%, to $3.15.
In the economic docket, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported home sales recorded over Canadian MLS Systems dropped by a record 56.8% in April, compared to an already weakened March, with a majority of sellers and buyers having seemingly moved off to the sidelines during the COVID-19 lockdown.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 9.77 points, or 2%, to 508.03
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided by noon hour, with health-care sprinting 8.2%, gold up 3.9%, and materials better by 3.7%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by financials, down 0.8%, while utilities and communications were each off 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell in volatile trading Friday as Wall Street wrapped up its worst weekly performance since late March. Investors grappled with a slew of economic reports as well as increasing tensions between China and the U.S.
The 30-stock index dropped 86.17 points to 23,593.17.
The S&P 500 erased 8.17 points to 2,844.33.
The NASDAQ fell 16.11 points to 8,927.61.
Office Depot shares rallied more than 15%. Best Buy, Kohl’s and Nordstrom also rose. Walmart traded 0.7% higher while Home Depot advanced 1.1%.
For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 were both down at least 3% while the NASDAQ fell 2.5%. Those would be the biggest weekly losses for the major indexes since the week of March 20, when they dropped more than 12%.
U.S. monthly retail sales fell by 16.4% in April, a record. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a decline of 12.3%. So-called core retail sales —which exclude auto, gas, food and building materials sales — dropped 15.3%.
Friday’s readings followed better-than-expected data on U.S. consumer sentiment. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index unexpectedly rose in early May.
The Trump administration has moved to block semiconductor shipments to Chinese company Huawei. The Commerce Department said it would "strategically target Huawei’s acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain U.S. software and technology."
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury dipped, raising yields to 0.64% from Thursday’s 0.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices increased $1.52 to $29.08 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices improved $15.50 to $1,756.40 U.S. an ounce.
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