Canada's main stock index edged lower by noon on Friday, prolonging a two-day slide as health-care and consumer stocks paled.
The TSX Composite dumped 23 points to move into noon hour Friday trading at 22,087.11.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.4 cents at 72.66 cents U.S.
The materials sector, which has Canadian miners and fertilizer companies, headed for its best day since March-end. The sector was pulled up by metal miners such as Silvercrest Metals, which gained 30 cents to $10.27, and NovaGold Resources, up 11 cents, or 2.5%, to $4.48, after precious and base metals marched upwards.
Elsewhere, shares of MTY Foods fell $5.53, or 11%, to $44.61, after the restaurant operator reported its first quarter results.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.34 points to 596.62.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with health-care down 1.3%, consumer discretionaries trailing 1.1%, and information technology, off 0.9%.
The three gainers were gold, sprinting 2.6%, materials, better by 1.4%, and energy, advancing 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Friday as major U.S. banks kicked off the corporate earnings season while inflation and geopolitical concerns weighed on investors.
The Dow Jones Industrials swooned 279.78 points by noon Friday to 38,179.30.
The S&P 500 index subtracted 43.86 points to 5,155.20.
The NASDAQ dumped 158.49 points, or 1%, to 16,282.71.
Week to date, the broad market index has capsized 1%, and 30-stock Dow is down 1.9%. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy NASDAQ is 0.1% higher for the week.
JPMorgan Chase shares declined more than 5% after the banking giant posted its first-quarter results. The bank said net interest income, a key measure of what it makes through lending activities, could be a little short of what Wall Street analysts are expecting in 2024. CEO Jamie Dimon also warned about persistent inflationary pressures weighing on the economy.
Wells Fargo slipped 0.6% after reporting its latest quarterly figures. Citigroup dropped more than 2% despite posting a revenue beat.
Oil prices continued their rise on reports that Israel is preparing for a direct attack by Iran this weekend, in what would be the biggest escalation of tensions in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October. U.S. crude was last at $87.05 a barrel.
That, coupled with fresh U.S. imports data, added fuel to inflation concerns that have put pressure on the market.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury rallied, lowering yields to 4.52% from Thursday’s 4.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.43 to $86.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $49.20 to $2,411.70 U.S. an ounce.
