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TSX turns positive(Baystreet Stock Market Update (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Gold leads parade The Toronto stock market made some progress as the clock approached noon Friday. This, even as traders played it cautious going into the long Labour Day weekend amid fears of a wider Russian invasion into Ukraine and a big letdown in U.S. consumer spending data. The S&P/TSX composite index reacquired 45.97 points to greet noon at 15,604.14, after a negative start to the day. The Canadian dollar was up 0.03 cents at 92.11 cents U.S. Among financials, Royal Bank shares eked out an eight-cent gain to $80.63. Resource sectors provided lift with the gold sector ahead while Argonaut Gold sprinted ahead 23 cents, or 5.5%, to $4.38. December copper gained two cents to $3.17 U.S. a pound and Teck Resources advanced seven cents to $24.74. The energy sector rose as Imperial Oil gathered 19 cents to $57.60. On the economic calendar, the economy showed encouraging signs in the second quarter of 2014. Figures released by Statistics Canada revealed that real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.8%, following a 0.2% increase in the first quarter. This was the largest quarterly gain since the third quarter of 2011. On a monthly basis, real GDP by industry increased 0.3% in June. In a mini-blizzard of activity, the agency also said its Industrial Product Price Index declined 0.3% in July, mainly because of lower prices for energy and petroleum products. StatsCan's Raw Materials Price Index declined 1.4%, mostly due to lower prices for crude energy products. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 0.87 points to 1,021.50. All but one of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon hour ET, with gold soaring 1.3%, materials stronger by 0.9%, and energy better by 0.7%. Utilities missed the party, slipping 0.4%. ON WALLSTREET U.S. stocks showed little change early Friday, as the S&P 500 eyed its best August performance in 14 years. The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 6.55 points to 17,086.12. The S&P 500 improved 4.07 points to 2,000.81. The NASDAQ gained 16.49 points to 4,574.19. The S&P 500 had gained 3.4% for the month as of Thursday's close, and if that holds it would represent the benchmark's best August performance since 2000. The S&P 500 is also on pace for its largest monthly percentage jump since February, when it rose 4.3%. For the week, the S&P 500 is up 0.4%. The Dow is on track for advances of 0.2% for the week and 2.9% for the month, while the NASDAQ is eyeing climbs of 0.5% for the week and 4.3% for August. Big Lots Inc. fell 1.8% after the discount retailer reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, while revenue came in slightly below expectations. Splunk Inc. jumped 15.3% after the software maker late Thursday reported earnings that topped analysts' estimates, while Avago Technologies Ltd. climbed 8.3% as the chip company's earnings, out late Thursday, also beat analysts' expectations. Consumer spending dipped 0.1% in July, marking its first decline in six months and falling short of the 0.1% increase expected by economists. On the upside, the latest figures for consumer sentiment and Chicago-area business conditions topped estimates. Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries sagged, prodding yields up to 2.34% from Thursday's 2.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. Oil prices were up 80 cents to $95.35 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices faltered two dollars to $1,288.40 U.S. an ounce. © 1998 - 2014 Baystreet.ca Media Corp. All rights reserved. |