TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index broke a five-day losing streak but still ended the week off 3.3 per cent as crude oil and gold prices struggled over the past five trading sessions.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 65.39 points to 18,394.45, but was down for the week as crude oil prices decreased nearly seven per cent and gold was 2.2 per cent lower.
In the U.S., a lift from bank earnings and good retail sales numbers contributed to the better market performance.
Dow Jones industrial average was up 658.09 points or 2.2 per cent at 31,288.26. The S&P 500 index was up 72.78 points at 3,863.16, while the Nasdaq composite was up 201.23 points at 11,452.42.
“Overall it’s not a bad day,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
“I think what we’re seeing is a bit of a relief rally just into the weekend here, whether that’s short covering (or) whether that’s bargain-hunting,” he said in an interview.
Energy was the best sector on the TSX, gaining 1.4 per cent as crude oil prices were up nearly two per cent.
The August crude contract was up US$1.81 at US$97.59 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was up 41.6 cents at US$7.02 per mmBTU.
Shares of Vermilion Energy Inc. rose 5.1 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded for 76.70 cents US compared with 76.12 cents US on Thursday.
Consumer discretionary and financials were among the five sectors that were higher Friday.
The heavyweight financials sector trailed the performance of its U.S. counterpart as shares of Citigroup Inc. surged 13 per cent and Wells Fargo was up six per cent after the banks reported quarterly results.
Health care was the biggest laggard on the TSX, falling 4.6 per cent as cannabis producers Tilray Inc. and Canopy Growth Corp. were down 11.6 and 9.1 per cent, respectively.
Materials was also lower on a slight drop in bullion prices and a 10.3 per cent drop in shares of Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. to their lowest level in a year after it reported weak second-quarter results and said it would be re-evaluating its 2022 guidance.
The August gold contract was down US$2.20 at US$1,703.60 an ounce and the September copper contract was up 2.3 cents at US$3.23 a pound.
Cieszynski said U.S. stock markets outperformed the Toronto market because they have been more depressed and oversold than in Canada.
“So it’s not really unusual that you would get a bigger bounce.”
Also supporting U.S. gains were comments Thursday from two hawkish Fed members who said they favoured another three-quarters of a percentage point increase in interest rates later this month, instead of the 100 basis point increase adopted by the Bank of Canada.
“I think that’s helping quite a bit. I think that turned up the markets quite quickly yesterday when they started to talk it down.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:VET, TSX:TLRY, TSX:WEED, TSX:WDO, TSX:GSPTSE, TSX_CADUSD=X)
