Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Friday, aiming to recoup some weekly losses, as investors shed caution around Middle East tensions after Iran downplayed the reported Israeli attack.
The TSX Composite leaped 118.74 points to move into Friday afternoon at 21,827.18.
The Canadian dollar progressed 0.14 cents at 72.76 cents U.S.
In corporate news, crypto miners Hut 8 advanced 34 cents, or 3.1%, to $11.18, and Bitfarms gained eight cents, or 3.1%, to $2.70, tracking a 2.3%.rise in Bitcoin.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.91 points to 566.98.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with energy and utilities each up 1%, while gold took on 0.8%.
Only information technology lost out, and only 0.2% at that.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 fell for a sixth straight session on Friday, on track for its longest losing streak in more than a year. The downtrend comes as a post-earnings slide in Netflix added to recent market woes tied to geopolitical conflicts and sticky inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrials came down from its highs of the morning, but still gained 79.63 points to reach noon at 37,855.01, lifted by American Express.
The much-broader index dropped 38.65 points to 4,972.47.
The NASDAQ sank 263.64 points, or 1.7%, to 15,337.86.
Netflix fell almost 7% even after quarterly earnings beat on the top and bottom lines. The streamer’s subscribers jumped 16% from the previous year, but it said it would no longer report paid memberships starting in 2025.
Concerns over escalation in the Middle East conflict following Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran appeared largely shaken off by Friday’s open.
Those moves come as the S&P 500 is heading for its worst week in almost six months amid growing fears around the path of inflation and monetary policy.
The S&P 500 is now 4.8% off its 52-week high, part of a market pullback that has been largely driven by tempered expectations for rate cuts. Economists and strategists now see the Fed waiting until at least September to lower rates and are increasingly entertaining the possibility of no reductions at all this year.
The NASDAQ Composite has fallen 4.9% so far this week after sliding over the last five days. The tech-heavy index is on pace for its fourth straight down week, its longest negative streak since December 2022. It would also mark the NASDAQ’s worst weekly performance since March 2023.
If the S&P 500 or NASDAQ end Friday down, it would mark the first six-day losing streak for each going back to October 2022.
The Dow has seen muted moves this week, slipping just around 0.4%. This would be the blue-chip average’s third losing week in a row.
Media reports are circulating Israel conducted a limited strike against Iran. Earlier, Iran’s Fars news agency reported explosions were heard near the airport at the country’s central Isfahan city, but the reason was unknown.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury inched higher, lowering yields to 4.61% from Thursday’s 4.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 27 cents to $83.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $9.40 to $2,407.40 U.S. an ounce.
