Flat Friday ends positive week
American markets closed Friday flat with the Nasdaq up 0.08%, but the Dow down 0.08% while the S&P added 0.13%. However, over the week, all the indices rallied over 2%, especially the Nasdaq which was up 2.37%. The catalyst was weaker than expected inflation data released a few days ago, which prompted risk-on buying and a belief that the U.S. Fed will hold interest rates.
Major movers on Friday were Gap, soaring 30.58% on a strong beat, Applied Materials -4.11%, Humana -2.89% and Ross Stores jumping 7.12%. The U.S. 10-year yield held around 4.44% as Bitcoin climbed 1.5% to $36,500.
The TSX outpaced its Wall Street peers on Friday by rising 0.61% and 2.65% for the week. It helped that WTI crude jumped 3.9% to $75.75, though the commodity has entered bear market territory. Sectors were mixed on Bay Street with strong gains in energy as well as discretionary and financials outweighing losses in sectors like materials and staples. Key movers included Suncor up 3.95%, Crescent Point Energy 3.3%, Stella Jones -2.63% and Manulife up 1.54% as the most-traded name.
🧢 Gap (GPS-N) +30.58%
🧬 Applied Materials (AMAT-Q) -4.11%
👨⚕️ Humana Inc (HUM-N) -2.89%
🛍 Ross Stores Inc. (ROST-Q) +7.12%
🅱 Bitcoin (BTCUSD) (CRYPTO:BTC) +1.5%
🛢 Suncor Energy Inc (SU-T) +3.95%
🛢 Crescent Point Energy Corp (CPG-T) +3.3%
🌲 Stella-Jones Inc. (SJ-T) -2.63%
🏛 Manulife Financial (MFC-T) +1.54%