The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Friday, led by gains in materials stocks as gold prices advanced on safe-haven buying. Stocks from the rest of the sectors turned in a mixed performance.
Investors reacted positively to some upbeat earnings updates from top U.S. companies, including Alphabet and Microsoft, and digested U.S. personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data that showed a larger than expected increase in annual consumer price growth.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 83.86 points or 0.38% at 21,969.24, after moving in a tight range between 21,907.48 and 21,997.95. The index gained about 0.5% in the week.
The Materials Capped Index climbed 1.69%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) soared 12.5%. Ero Copper (ERO.TO) surged 8.1%, while Capstone Mining Corp (CS.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO) and Filo Mining (FIL.TO) gained 5 to 7%.
Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) climbed 2.82%. Eldorado reported adjusted net earnings of $55.2 million for the first quarter of 2024, compared to adjusted net earnings of $16.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) gained more than 5%. Bombardier Inc (BBD.A.TO) gained 3.75%.
Dayforce Inc (DAY.TO), Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) and Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO) ended higher by 2.5%, 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
TFI International (TFII.TO) ended down by 2.3%. The company reported first quarter net income of $92.8 million compared to $111.9 million in Q1 2023. Adjusted net income came in at $105.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $116.5 million a year earlier.
Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) drifted down 2.6%. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), EQB Inc (EQB.TO), Cargojet (CJT.TO), Newmont Corporation (NGT.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO) and Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) ended down by 1 to 2%.
In economic news, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said its business barometer in Canada, an index reflecting 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, dropped to 47.5 in April, from an upwardly revised 52.9 in the prior month.
Wholesale sales in Canada fell by 1.3% month-over-month in March, following zero change in February, preliminary estimates showed. The decrease was led by motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector and the miscellaneous subsector.