Equities in Toronto reached for the heavens Friday, even as investors looked to minimize risks following reports of an escalation in Middle East tensions, while technology stocks limited declines.
The TSX Composite leaped 111.76 points to open the week’s last session at 21,820.20.
The Canadian dollar progressed 0.14 cents at 72.75 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Scotia resumed its coverage of construction supplies provider Adentra with an “outperform” rating. Adentra shares began Friday up 68 cents, or 1.6%, to $42.02.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.74 points to 568.15.
All 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with communications and utilities each up 0.7%, while energy rumbled 0.5% higher.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were able to regain ground Friday after equity futures tumbled overnight as investors bet Israel retaliatory strikes against Iran would not escalate to a bigger conflict. Oil prices traded into the red after briefly spiking earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrials raced 201.12 points to begin Friday at 37,976.50,
The much-broader index dropped 3.79 points to 5,007.33.
The NASDAQ sank 94.93 points to 15,506.57, on the back of Netflix’s post-earnings decline.
Netflix weighed on the NASDAQ, with the streamer falling almost 8% even after quarterly earnings beat on the top and bottom line. Netflix’s subscribers jumped 16% from the previous year, but it said it would no longer report paid memberships starting in 2025.
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 broad index has fallen for five sessions in a row — a first since October — in a retreat that has brought its week-to-date losses to 2.3%. It would be the large-cap benchmark’s third straight negative week and its worst weekly performance since October.
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% 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 4.62% from Thursday’s 4.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 12 cents to $82.85 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $3.70 to $2,394.30 U.S. an ounce.
