TSX Still Higher on Energy Stocks
The TSX Composite faced noon hour ahead 33.34 points to 20,311.85.
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.06 cents at 73.60 cents U.S.
On a day empty of economic news, came word that brokerage J.P. Morgan downgraded MEG Energy to "neutral" from "overweight". MEG shares hung onto 20 cents to $23.83.
J.P. Morgan upgraded Imperial Oil to "neutral" from "underweight". Imperial stock sprinted $2.06, or 2.8%, to $74.81.
Elsewhere, Canadian Western Bank gained $1.15, or 3.8%, to $31.38 after reporting higher fourth-quarter adjusted profit per share.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stayed aloft 2.46 points to 536.47.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, with energy soaring 1%, information technology better by 0.5%, and health-care up 0.4%,
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by gold, listing lower 1.2%, communications, off 0.9%, while consumer discretionary stocks dipped 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks gyrated on Friday with the S&P 500 headed for a slight decline on the week as a 5-week comeback in the benchmark takes a breather despite economic data that backed bulls’ hopes for an economic soft landing.
The Dow Jones Industrials was down from its highs of the morning, remaining buoyant 9.4 points to 36,126.78.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.27 points to 4,858.32.
The NASDAQ slid 0.48 points to 14,339.51.
For the week, the NASDAQ’s gained 0.6%, while the S&P is up 0.1%. The Dow is on pace for a 0.1% weekly loss.
In other news, Carrier Global shares jumped more than 5% on news that it’s selling a business unit to Honeywell. The industrial stock lost 2%. First Solar popped 5% on an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.
November’s non-farm payrolls report showed an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury last up by 10 basis points at 4.23%. (One basis point equals 0.01%.)
The jobless rate fell to 3.7% in November from 3.9% the prior month. It was expected to remain the same. The economy added 199,000 jobs, slightly ahead of the 190,000 estimate from Dow Jones and well ahead the 150,000 jobs added in October.
Meanwhile, a closely watched University of Michigan survey showed inflation expectations drop and consumer sentiment jump in December to it highest level since July.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 4.26% from Thursday’s 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.69 to $71.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $27.50 to $2,018.90.
Provided Content: Content provided by Baystreet. The Globe and Mail was not involved, and material was not reviewed prior to publication.
