Toronto stocks edged higher on commodity gains

Canada's benchmark stock index edged higher on Friday, lifted by gains in the materials and energy sectors as the index recovered some of its weekly losses.

The TSX Composite gained 83.79 points to open Friday's trade at 22,193.90.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.03 cents to 72.26 cents

Brookfield Asset Management is in advanced talks to buy a majority stake in Castlelake, a private loan manager with more than $1.5 billion in investments, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Brookfield shares were down 60 cents, or 1.1%, at $54.31 on Friday.

IN BEYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange rose 7.01 points, or 1.2%, to 598.29.

Seven of 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with consumer discretionary and information technology each declining 0.5%, while consumer staples fell 0.3%.
Gold led the five advancers by 3.3%, materials 2.3% better and energy 1.2% ahead.

ON WALL STREET

Stocks fell on Friday as major U.S. banks kicked off the corporate earnings season, while inflation and geopolitical concerns weighed on investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 291.63 points to open at 38,167.45 on Friday.

The broader index fell 42.53 points to 5,156.57.

The NASDAQ dropped 158.56 points, or 1%, to 16,283.64.

For the week, the broad market index is down 0.7%, while the 30-stock Dow is down 1.7%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ bucked the trend and is currently up 0.4% for the week.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell more than 3% after the banking giant reported its first-quarter results. Net interest income, a key measure of how much the bank earns through lending, could be lower than expected in 2024, Wall Street analysts said. CEO Jamie Dimon also warned of persistent inflationary pressures weighing on the economy.

Wells Fargo fell about 1.1% after reporting its latest quarterly results. Citigroup rose more than 1% after the earnings report.

Oil prices continued to rise on reports that Israel is preparing for a direct attack by Iran this weekend, in what would be the biggest escalation of tensions in the region since the Israel-Hamas war broke out last October. The last price of US crude oil was 87.05 dollars per barrel.

This, coupled with fresh US import data, added fuel to inflationary concerns that weighed on the market.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.48% from Thursday's 4.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The price of oil increased by 2.28 dollars and made 87.30 dollars per barrel.

The price of gold rose by $49.20 per ounce to $2,421.90.

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