The Canadian stock market is little changed in early trade Friday. The markets opened slightly higher this morning, but has since fluctuated between small gains and losses. The TSX Composite has bounced back from its lowest level since September in recent days, after suffering heavy February losses.
Markets in Europe are trading modestly to the upside Friday, extending their recent recovery. After logging some early gains, the markets have settled into a sideways pattern.
Markets on Wall Street are little changed in early trade Friday. The markets have been fluctuating between small gains and losses since the start of the session. Traders appear reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets after the volatility seen in recent weeks.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 26.17 points or 0.17 percent at 15,433.83.
On Thursday, the index closed up 79.39 points or 0.52 percent, at 15,407.66. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,445.82 and a low of 15,276.55.
The Capped Healthcare Index is lower by 1.37 percent. ProMetic Life Sciences (PLI.TO) is rising 1.32 percent. The company announced the publication of the antifibrotic mechanism of action of its PBI-4050 drug in the American Journal of Pathology.
The Gold Index is decreasing 0.68 percent. Gold prices are flat Friday morning, clinging to mid-week gains despite further signs of U.S. inflation.
IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is decreasing 1.43 percent and Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is declining 3.96 percent. Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) is weakening by 0.93 percent.
The Capped Materials Index is down 0.57 percent. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is falling 3.75 percent and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is lower by 0.33 percent.
The Capped Information Technology Index is losing 0.49 percent. Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is weakening by 0.85 percent and BlackBerry (BB.TO) is falling 0.40 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is forfeiting 0.26 percent.
The Energy Index is rising 0.54 percent. Crude oil prices are inching lower Friday morning, ahead of the weekly U.S. rig count report.
Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is gaining 0.46 percent and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is advancing 1.18 percent. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is rising 0.11 percent and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is higher by 0.64 percent. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is climbing 0.36 percent and Encana (ECA.TO) is up 1.08 percent.
Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) is rising 0.60 percent after it reported Q4 earnings of C$1.01 billion, or C$0.61 per share. This was up from C$522 million, or C$0.56 per share, in last year's fourth quarter. The company will reportedly double its asset sales.
The Capped Industrials Index is up 0.48 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is increasing 0.92 percent and Finning International (FTT.TO) is gaining 0.96 percent. WestJet Airlines (WJA.TO) is rising 0.92 percent.
Air Canada (AC.TO) is climbing 3.08 percent after it beat earnings expectations on rising traffic.
The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is up 0.37 percent. BCE (BCE.TO) is climbing 0.43 percent and TELUS (T.TO) is rising 0.53 percent. Rogers Communications (RCI-B.TO) is also higher by 0.03 percent.
The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.15 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is higher by 0.02 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is gaining 0.01 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is rising 0.04 percent
Fairfax Financial (FFH.TO) is up 0.17 percent after it reported a big loss for the fourth quarter due to its bet on a market correction.
Kinder Morgan Canada (KML.TO) is climbing 1.46 percent. The company has been allowed to start work on its controversial TransMountain project.
On the economic front, Canadian manufacturing sales declined 0.3% to $55.5 billion in December, following a revised increase of 3.8% in November.
Germany's wholesale price inflation accelerated slightly in January, after easing in the previous three months, data from Destatis showed Friday. Wholesale prices climbed 2.0 percent year-over-year in January, faster than the 1.8 percent rise in December.
UK retail sales grew less than expected in January as high inflation squeezed consumer spending, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed Friday. Retail sales rose 0.1 percent month-on-month in January, reversing a 1.4 percent drop in December. Nonetheless, this was slower than the expected 0.5 percent rise.
Import prices in the U.S. jumped by more than expected in the month of January, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday, while export price growth also exceeded estimates. The Labor Department said import prices surged up by 1.0 percent in January after edging up by a revised 0.2 percent in December.
Economists had expected import prices to climb by 0.6 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said export prices increased by 0.8 percent in January after inching up by a revised 0.1 percent in December. Export prices had been expected to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.1 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
After reporting a steep drop in new residential construction in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing housing starts in the U.S. rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of January.
The Commerce Department said housing starts soared by 9.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.326 million in January after tumbling by 6.9 percent to a revised 1.209 million in December. Economists had expected housing starts to climb by 3.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.234 million from the 1.192 million originally reported for the previous month.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also surged up by 7.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.396 million in January from the revised December rate of 1.300 million.
Despite recent volatility on Wall Street, the University of Michigan released a report on Friday unexpectedly showing a significant improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of February. The preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for February came in at 99.9, up from the final January reading of 95.7. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 95.5.
In commodities, crude oil futures for March delivery are down 0.26 or 0.42 percent at $61.08 a barrel.
Natural gas for March is down 0.007 or 0.27 percent at $2.573 per million btu.
Gold futures for April are down 0.30 or 0.02 percent at $1,355.00 an ounce.
Silver for March is down 0.076 or 0.45 percent at $16.72 an ounce.
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