Stocks climb on quiet Black Friday

Volumes were predictably light as Wall Street traded for only half of Black Friday while the TSX rose modestly. Toronto advanced 0.2%, led by consumer staples, real estate and utilities while materials lagged. Most sectors were in the green.

Notable movers were Transcontinental (class A) up 2.88%, Tamarack Valley Energy by 1.6%, Parkland adding nearly 2%, Barrick Gold slipping 2% and Kinross Gold losing 2.45%. The TSX rallied 2.42% for the week despite WTI crude falling again Friday, down 2% to $76 as China’s Covid lockdowns endure, despite reopenings well underway across the globe.

Wall Street closed by lunchtime a day after American Thanksgiving. The S&P was flat for Friday, but up 1.5% for the week while the Nasdaq inched up 0.45% (slipping 0.27% for the week), and the Dow climbed 0.45% Friday. Reports on Washington challenging the Microsoft- Activision Blizzard deal slammed ATVI shares by 4% (MSFT was basically flat), Albemarle sank 3.9%, though Kroger advanced 2.51%. Labour problems in China continued to shadow Apple as shares slipped almost 2%. Bitcoin sank 0.5% to $16,500 as the U.S. 10-year yield inched down to 3.691%.

🧾 Transcontinental Inc. (A) (TCL.A-T) +2.88%
🛢 Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE-T) +1.6%
🛢 Parkland Fuel Corp (PKI-T) +2%
🥇 Barrick Gold (ABX-T) -2%
🥇 Kinross Gold (K-T) -2.45%
🎮 Activision Blizzard (ATVI-Q) -4%
🚗 Albemarle Corp (ALB-N) -3.9%
🛒 Kroger Co. (KR-N) +2.51%
🍎 Apple (AAPL-Q) -2%
🅱 Bitcoin (BTCUSD) (CRYPTO:BTC) -0.5%