TSX Snaps Losing Streak, Ends Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Friday, gaining significantly in closing minutes after having moved in a very narrow range slightly above the flat line for much of the trading session.

Encouraging Canadian GDP data and optimism about a positive outcome from the upcoming meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit supported the market.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which gained after closing in the red on the previous five sessions, ended up 74.47 points, or 0.46%, at 16,382.20, the day's high. Earlier in the session, the index touched a low of 16,302.58. The index shed 1.16% in the week.

Shares from consumer discretionary and materials sections posted strong gains. A few stocks from utilities, financial, information technology and industrials sectors too ended on a bright note.

Energy and healthcare stocks turned in a mixed performance.

Industrial stocks Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) and Martinrea International Inc. (MRE.TO) gained 2 to 3%.

UniSelect (UNS.TO) ended nearly 2%, while Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) and Great Canadian Gaming Corp (GC.TO) gained 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively.

In the materials space, New Gold (NGD.TO) soared 7.7%. Alacer Gold Corp (ASR.TO), Semafo (SMF.TO), Yamana Gold (YRI.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Centerra Gold (CG.TO) and Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) ended stronger by 2 to 5.3%.

Ero Corp (ERO.TO), Novagold Resources (NG.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) also ended sharply higher.

Among energy stocks, Encana Corporation (ECA.TO), Precision Drilling Corporation (PD.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) ended with strong gains.

Shares of power producer Transalta Corp. (TA.TO) climbed up 6.6%. Information technology stocks Evertz Technologies (ET.TO) and Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) both ended stronger by about 3.25%.

In the financial space, National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) gained 0.5 to 1.3%.

In economic news, data released by Statistics Canada showed Canadian economy expanded at a faster pace than forecast in April, pointing to a strong economic growth in the second quarter.

Silver futures for September ended up $0.047, at $15.341 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $2.7135 per pound, down $0.0035 from previous close.

The report showed that gross domestic product rose 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis in April following a 0.5% increase in March. Economists had expected the economy to expand by 0.2%. On year, GDP grew 1.5% in April from 1.4% last month. The growth matched economists forecasts.

Separate data showed that prices for products manufactured in Canada unexpectedly rose in May.

On a monthly basis, the Industrial Product Price Index edged up 0.1% in May following a 0.8% rise in April. Economists had forecast a 0.1% drop.

Meanwhile, a new survey by the Bank of Canada said business sentiment in Canada has picked up to show a slight improvement after falling earlier this year.

BoC said that its summer business outlook survey, which measures corporate expectations, bounced back after falling into negative territory at the start the year.

"The business outlook survey indicator edged up to its historical average consistent with a slight improvement in business sentiment," the central bank said in its latest quarterly survey.

U.S. stocks ended on a positive note despite paring some early gains. Among the major averages, the Dow advanced 0.3%, the Nasdaq climbed 0.5% and the S&P 500 ended up 0.6%.

The market was a bit volatile as traders looked ahead to the highly anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Although the leaders are not expected to come out of the meeting with a finalized trade deal, traders will be looking for signs of progress toward kick-starting the stalled negotiations between the to superpowers.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday, while most of the markets across Europe moved higher.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended down $0.96, or 1.6%, at $58.47 a barrel.

Gold futures for August ended up $1.70, or 0.1%, at $1,413.70 an ounce, the highest settlement in six years.