Toronto's main stock market index fought its way to a higher close on Friday, pushed up by Barrick Gold and other heavyweight gold miners, after touching a three-month low earlier in the day. Barrick led big names on the upside, climbing 5.5 percent to C$38.45, while Goldcorp rose 7.3 percent to C$38.19. Among other gold miners, Agnico-Eagle climbed 7.8 percent to C$58.28, and Kinross Gold rose 5.8 percent to C$18.55.
The miners were helped higher by firmer spot gold prices, which rebounded from sharply lower levels earlier in the day, said Francis Campeau, broker at MF Global Canada, in Montreal. He said investors were also repositioning at the end of the week after the recent market selloff and ahead of a meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers that is focused on financial regulation and economic recovery.
"The move higher was done in such a swift manner it can't be anything more, at this point, than a short squeeze," Campeau said. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index finished the day up 94.36 points, or 0.85 percent, at 11,223.12. It rose 1.2 percent on the week.
Friday's market action was "all over the place", Campeau said. Other market watchers agreed. "If people or traders have been following this market all day they've run out of breath. It's been one of those crazy days you don't know what to make of it," said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.
The S&P/TSX composite fell to 10,990.41 early on Friday, its lowest level since early November, as concern over the financial health of some European countries shook investor confidence. The euro zone sovereign debt problems subdued risk appetite, despite figures that showed a drop in Canada's unemployment rate in January and a surprising 43,000 gain in jobs.
"It was more technical than anything else. It was a confluence of bad news in the morning and the market sold off. It hit some chart points and bounced off," said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada. The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index closed 5.82 points, or 0.89 percent, higher at 656.60.
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