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Toronto and New York markets rebounded Friday from steep losses the day before, as investors sought bargains amid Thursday’s lower stock prices.
Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index soared 133.20 points to close at 15,026.77, propped up by gains in information technology and energy stocks.
At the Canada-EU summit in Ottawa and Toronto, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement has been signed Friday and the final text has been released.
Hailing the bilateral free trade pact as a historic milestone, participant leaders said the trade agreement will create 80,000 new jobs and will boost Canada-EU trade by 20 percent.
Info-tech shares were the biggest gainer on the Toronto exchange, up 2.00 percent to 41.36 Canadian dollars (36.92 U.S. dollars) with Blackberry Ltd. gained 5.15 percent to 11.44 Canadian dollars (10.21 U.S. dollars).
The smartphone company’s latest financial report showed that it lost 207 million U.S dollars or 0.39 U.S. dollars per share for the second quarter, which was a smaller quarterly loss in an early sign that its drawn-out turnaround efforts might be working.
Industrials stocks were also up 1.44 percent to 194.07 Canadian dollars (173.27 U.S. dollars) with Bombardier Inc., the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains, advanced 3.42 percent to 3.63 Canadian dollars (3.24 U.S. dollars) Friday after saying that aircraft leasing company Macquarie Air Finance had signed an purchase agreement for up To 50 C-series Aircraft.
Investors were also encouraged by data that U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Friday morning. The U.S. economy increased an annual rate of 4.6 percent in the second quarter of 2014. In the first quarter, real GDP decreased 2.1 percent.
Meanwhile, energy stocks climbed 1.48 percent to 293.56 Canadian dollars (262.10 U.S. dollars), with the price of U.S. crude oil showing a similar gain. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 2.59 percent to 44.33 Canadian dollars (39.58 U.S. dollars), and Suncor Energy Inc. added 0.99 percent to 40.69 Canadian dollars (36.33 U.S. dollars).
In other sectors, financials, the most heavily weighed sector, gained 0.81 percent to 253.80 Canadian dollars (226.60 U.S. dollars). Metals& mining sector surged 1.42 percent to 815.67 Canadian dollars (728.27 U.S. dollars); Utilities rose 0.70 percent to 215.86 Canadian dollars (192.73 U.S. dollars).
Also on Friday, the Canadian Department of Finance reported that there was a budgetary deficit of 1.2 billion dollars in July 2014, compared to a deficit of 2.0 billion in July 2013; and the government remains on track to balance the budget in 2015.
In the currency market, the Canadian dollar moved down to 0.8965 U.S. dollars from Thursday’s 0.9003 U.S dollars.
Agencies/Canadajournal
