TSX Stays on Upward Track

Canada's main stock index edged up to touch another record high on Friday as mining shares rose on higher gold prices, while energy stocks tracking lower oil prices limited overall gains.

The TSX Composite Index leaped 104.23 points at noon Friday to 24,794.71.

The Canadian dollar let go of 0.03 cents to 72.45 cents U.S.

The Canadian central bank's policy meeting is due next week, and investors have raised their expectations for a larger-than-usual interest rate cut following Tuesday's unexpectedly low inflation data.

Traders are betting high on a 50-basis-point cut at the meeting on Oct. 23, the odds of which stand at 91.7%.

A larger cut can provide a much-needed boost to the domestic economy, whose annual inflation level has dropped below the central bank's 2% target.

In corporate news, Dundee Corporation announced it acquired two million common shares of Greenheart Gold at the price of $0.50 per share. Dundee shares picked up 46 cents, or 3.3%, to $14.60.

The consumer discretionary also gained, supported by a rise of $1.86, or 3.2%, in auto parts supplier Magna International to $60.21.

Among individual stocks, Calibre Mining fell 16 cents, or 5.6%, to $2.63. after it announced third-quarter and year-to-date gold production.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 6.96 points, or 1.1%, to 615.86.

Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were still into the green into Friday afternoon, with gold up 3.3%, materials progressed 2.9%, and information technology was better by 0.5%.

The four laggards were weighed most by energy, sagging 1.2%, health-care, sinking 0.6%, and industrials, tailing off 0.01%.

ON WALLSTREET

The NASDAQ rose Friday, led by a post-earnings jump in Netflix, as Wall Street looked to close a record-setting week.

The Dow Jones Industrial had caught up to breakeven, nosing ahead 0.02 points to 43,239.07.

The S&P 500 index advanced 18.26 points to 5,859.73.

The NASDAQ Composite rumbled 95.90 points to 18,469.51.

For the week, the three major averages were headed for their sixth straight positive week. That would mark the longest weekly winning streaks in 2024 for both the Dow and S&P 500.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ are up around 0.6% week to date, and the Dow has climbed 0.5%.

Netflix climbed 11% after the streaming giant beat Wall Street’s expectations on both lines in the third quarter, while reporting a 35% jump in ad-tier memberships from the prior three-month period. Procter & Gamble also reported better-than-expected earnings, while revenue fell short of estimates.

So far, more than 70 S&P 500 companies have reported earnings. Of those, 75% have beaten expectations.

Friday’s moves come after a rally in Travelers propelled the Dow to finish Thursday at an all-time closing high. The broad S&P 500 inched lower despite notching a fresh intraday high during the session, while the technology-heavy NASDAQ concluded modestly higher.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained a bit, lowering yields to 4.07% from Thursday’s 4.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices lost $1.16 to $69.51 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices added $25.60 to $2,733.10 U.S. an ounce