The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Friday, extending previous session's gains, amid hopes the trade talks between the U.S. and China next week will help diffuse trade tensions.
Worries about U.S.-Turkey spat and its likely impact on the global economy limited market's upside. Higher commodity prices aided sentiment.
Healthcare, materials and financial stocks moved higher. Shares from utilities, telecom, industrials and consumer staples sections ended on a mixed note.
The benchmark S&P/TSX index ended up 98.06 points or 0.60%, at 16,323.71 after scaling a low of 16,194.89 and a high of 16,336.89 intraday. On Thursday, the index ended up 77.15 points, or 0.48%, at 16,225.65.
The Capped Healthcare Index climbed up 3.45%. Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) gained 3.8%. Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) and McGill University have announced the launch of an international collaborative medical research
project that will comprehensively examine the therapeutic impact and human health outcomes of cannabidiol oil as a therapy for chronic pain and related anxiety and depression.
Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) jumped over 8% and Aphria Inc. (APH.TO) added 1.6%.
The Capped Materials Index ended 1.5% up. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO) moved up nearly 4%, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) ended up 3.2%, Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) gained 2.8%, B2 Gold (BTO.TO) advanced 2.9%, Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) added 2.6%, Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO) gained 2.4%, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) climbed up 2.35%, while First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) advanced by 1.1% and CCL Industries Inc. (CCL.B.TO) gained about 1%.
The Capped Energy Index moved up 0.6%. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) gained 3.1%, Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) advanced by nearly 2.5% and Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO) ended up 1.25%. Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) gained 0.6% - 0.9%. Largo Resources (LGO.TO) gained 6.7%
The Capped Financial Index gained 0.56%. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) gained 0.4% - 1%.
Information technology stocks were weak. Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) shed more than 4%, Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) declined by 2.2%, Descartes Systems Group Inc. (DSG.TO) eased more than 2%, Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO) ended 1.1% down and BlackBerry (BB.TO) ended nearly 1% down.
Exchange Income Corporation (EIF.TO) has declared dividends totaling $0.1825 per share for the month ended August 31, 2018, payable September 14, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 31, 2018. The stock declined by about 1.7%.
Air Canada gained about 0.5%. The company announced on Thursday that its President and COO Benjamin Smith has said he will resign, effective August 31, 2018 to accept a role as chief executive officer at an European-based global airline.
KP Tissue Inc. (KPT.TO) shares gained 3.35%. The company announced on Thursday that it is planning a capital investment of $575 million in the Brompton area of Sherbrooke, Québec, to build a new, state-of-the-art tissue plant featuring Canada's largest and most modern through-air-dry machine.
On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed that the CPI rose 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis in July, following a 0.2% increase in June. The rate was forecast to edge up to 0.1%.
In economic news from U.S., consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated in August, a report from the University of Michigan showed. The preliminary report said the consumer sentiment index dropped to 95.3 in August after
edging down to 97.9 in July. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 98.0.
A report released by the Conference Board showed the index of leading U.S. economic indicators recorded a bigger than expected increase in the month of July. The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.6% in July following a 0.5% increase in June. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.4%.
In news from Eurozone, inflation accelerated for a third straight month in July, as initially estimated, to its highest level since late 2012, final data from Eurostat showed Friday. The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.1%
year-on-year in July, after climbing 2% in June. The rate came in line with the estimate published on July 31.
The euro area current account surplus remained unchanged in June, data from the European Central Bank showed Friday. The current account surplus totaled a seasonally adjusted EUR 24 billion in June, the same as seen in May.
In commodities, crude oil futures for September ended up $0.45, or 0.7%, at $65.91 a barrel
Natural gas for September gained $0.041 or 1.141% at $2.941 per million btu.
Gold futures for December ended at $1,184.20, gaining $0.20, or 0.017%.
Silver futures for September declined $0.082 to $14.631 an ounce, while Copper futures ended up $0.0125 at $2.629 per pound.
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