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While investors may have turned a little more cautious toward financial stocks on Friday and downright hostile toward technology, at least energy stocks enjoyed a respite from the battering they had received earlier in the week.
At noon, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 19 points, to 11,466. The broader S&P 500 was down 3 points, to 1257. Energy stocks led the way, rising 1.3 per cent.
Technology stocks continued to be the biggest drags on performance after disappointing earnings from key players in the sector. Among the three top culprits, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell 11.9 per cent, Google Inc. fell 9.1 per cent and Microsoft Corp. fell 7.5 per cent.
Financial stocks rose again, though their gains were far more modest than those seen on Wednesday or Thursday. The subindex rose just 0.9 per cent, but there were still standouts in the group: Citigroup Inc. rose 10.1 per cent and Fannie Mae rose 23.1 per cent. For those keeping track of the stunning rebound in the fortunes of Fannie Mae, the shares of the mortgage finance company have now doubled from their lowest point, touched just last week, after investors gained greater confidence that it just might survive without a government bailout.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 110 points, to 13,571, continuing a trend over the past 10 trading days that has seen the index fall one day and rise the next – with a net loss of about 150 points over the past two weeks of trading.
On Friday, the gains were widespread, with eight of the 10 subindexes rising. What's more important, though, is that two of the three biggest sectors – financials and energy – were among the winners. Financials rose 1.8 per cent, putting them out in front for the third day running as investors snap up the Big Banks in the hope that their worst days are behind them. Indeed, the biggest movers on the index were Manulife Financial Corp., up 2.3 per cent, and Royal Bank of Canada, up 2.1 per cent.
Energy stocks rose 1.2 per cent after a slight rebound in the price of crude oil instilled a belief among some investors that the sector had sold off too sharply in recent days. Oil traded at $130.34 (U.S.) a barrel, up $1.10.
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