Friday, July 3, 2009 4:36 PM
The close: Up day, down week
David Berman
Canadian stocks traded higher on Friday but the benchmark index closed the week down slightly as investors remained concerned about the health of the U.S. economy and its ability to emerge from recession later this year.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 10,283.1, up 37.19 points, or 0.4 per cent.
Teck Resources Ltd. surged 8.1 per cent after it announced a deal in which China’s sovereign wealth fund would take a 17 per cent stake in the company, relieving some of Teck’s debt pressures. The stock closed at $19.99 a share in Toronto, up from just $3.35 in November when many observers believed the company could collapse under its debt load.
In other moves on Friday, financials were generally higher, with Royal Bank of Canada up 1.1 per cent and Bank of Nova Scotia up 0.4 per cent. As well, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 2 per cent.
Energy stocks were down, however. Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.9 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell 0.2 per cent.
For the week, a shortened one due to the Canada Day holiday on Wednesday, the index fell 1.8 per cent – putting it alongside major U.S. indexes, which also tumbled during the week.
Nine of the 10 subindexes declined, led by a 3.6 per cent dip among energy stocks. Industrials fell 2.8 per cent, utilities fell 1.9 per cent and financials fell 1.5 per cent. Materials were the best-performing group, rising a slim 0.1 per cent during the week, due mostly to newfound enthusiasm for Potash Corp.
