Stocks in Canada’s largest market did some catching up Friday afternoon, after spending much of the day in negative country, as health-care issues lifted indexes reddened by losses in the tech sector.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index successfully forged ahead 6.2 points to close the day and the week at 15,416.93
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.17 cents to 74.33 cents U.S.
Health-care stocks emerged triumphant, for instance, Canopy Growth, climbing 35 cents, or 4.6%, to $8.00, though Valeant Pharmaceuticals stayed on the launch pad at $17.25.
Gold stocks were stronger, as Barrick Gold gathered 11 cents to $22.07, while Goldcorp jumped 22 cents, or 1.2%, to $18.47.
Materials moved higher, as Agnico Eagle Mines conquered $1.13, or 1.5%, to $66.13
Tech stocks felt the sting as the afternoon wore on, however, as BlackBerry slipped 17 cents, or 1.1%, to $14.95, after announcing the final amount it will receive from Qualcomm in a royalty dispute
Telecoms were stuck in the doldrums, too, as BCE lost 12 cents to $60.77, while TELUS ditched seven cents to $45.95.
In the consumer staples field, Metro Inc. slumped 29 cents to $44.97, while rival Loblaw eased back seven cents to $75.92.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 8.73 points, or 1.1%, to 808.59
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, as health-care strengthened 0.8%, gold shone brighter 0.6%, and materials were stronger by 0.4%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed mostly by information technology, down 0.5%, while telecoms and consumer staples each shed 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded mixed as on Friday ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend and digested key economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 2.67 points to close the week at 21,080.28, with Home Depot contributing the most losses and Goldman Sachs the most gains
The S&P 500 gained back 0.75 points to 2,415.82
The NASDAQ surpassed even Thursday’s lofty heights by 4.94 points to a new record of 6,210.19
The major stock indexes were, however, on track to post weekly gains of more than 1%.
Technology has been the best-performing sector this year, rising nearly 20% in the period. Leading the charge for the sector have been large-cap stocks such as Facebook, Netflix and Amazon, which have risen more than 30% in 2017. Amazon's stock was also within striking distance of reaching $1,000 per share.
Economically speaking, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.2% in the first quarter, an improvement from the first reading on economic growth.
Durable goods orders for April, meanwhile, fell less than expected.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were unchanged, keeping yields at Thursday’s 2.25%.
Oil prices gained 79 cents at $49.72 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $10.90 at $1,267.30 U.S. an ounce.
