Equities in Canada’s largest centre finished emphatically high on Friday, as some of the apprehension over the trade war started to lift. Resource and telecom stocks stood out the most.
The TSX Composite Index rocketed 103.68 points to Friday at 25,357.74. The index climbed 326 points, or 1.3%, on the week.
The Canadian dollar was off 0.04 cents at 71.78 cents U.S.
U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines and Korean Air Lines will acquire an aggregate 25% stake in Canada’s WestJet Airlines for $550 million from Onex Corp., whose shares gained $1.30, or 1.3%, to $103.20.
Communication stocks led the parade, as TELUS Corporation gained $1.48, or 7.1%, to $22.28, after the communications technology firm reported first-quarter profit and revenue above Wall Street estimates. BCE tacked on 78 cents, or 2.5%, to $31.74.
Elsewhere, gold stocks were in charge, with Lundin Gold hiking $7.94, or 13.4%, to $67.33, while Oceanagold captured 42 cents, or 7.3%, to $6.15.
In other resource stocks, SSR Mining jumped $1.12, or 7.5%, to $16.13, while Fortuna Silver Mines traveled 44 cents higher, or 5.9%, to $7.91.
Techs were bruised, primarily, Docebo, off $7.56, or 17%, to $37.00, while Sangoma Technologies docked 37 cents, or 4.5%, to $7.92.
In consumer discretionary stocks, Dollarama took it on the chin $4.48, or 2.6%, to $166.40, while PET Valu Holdings dipped 49 cents, or 1.6%, to $30.03.
Health-care issues were not at their strongest, with Bausch Health Companies shedding 22 cents, or 3.4%, to $6.34, while Tilray lost two cents, or 3.3%, to 59 cents.
In economic news, Statistics Canada reports the economy created 7,400 in April, and the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.9%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange flew 4.36 points to 683.40, for a jump of 27 points, or 4.1% since last Friday.
The 12 subgroups were evenly split as the closing bell clanged, as gold soared 3%, telecoms ticked 2.6%, and materials surged 2.5%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by information technology, down 1.7%, while health-care and consumer discretionary stocks each fell 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded mostly lower Friday as investors await much-anticipated trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials this weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrials sank 119.07 points to 41,249.38.
The S&P 500 index dropped 4.03 points to 5,659.91
The NASDAQ Composite squeezed ahead 0.78 points to 17,928.92.
Week to date, the S&P 500 was on pace for a 0.5% loss, while the NASDAQ was on track to lose about 0.3%. The Dow is down roughly 0.2%.
The talks between U.S. and Chinese officials follow the U.S. and U.K. reaching a preliminary trade deal. Investors hope this will lead to more agreements being reached quickly. That said, a 10% tariff rate on the U.K. appears to be the baseline for the globe.
The president also wrote on Truth Social that an “80% Tariff on China seems right” ahead of talks lead by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with China counterparts in Switzerland this weekend.
“Many Trade Deals in the hopper, all good (GREAT!) ones!,” said Trump, a day after announcing a preliminary trade agreement with the U.K., which marked the first deal between the U.S. and a global trading partner since Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff announcement in early April.
While this is a de-escalation somewhat from the current 145% tariff on China, it’s still higher than many expected where the administration would go to jumpstart talks.
Bloomberg News had reported earlier that the rate could be lowered below 60% as soon as this week.
It was also unclear if the president is talking about a long-term tariff rate on China or a temporary one during negotiations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury eased, raising yields back to Thursday’s 4.39%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices prospered $1.01 to $60.92 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold revived $26.80 to $3,332.80 U.S.