Toronto's main stock index finished just a touch higher on Friday as gains in most of its sectors were undermined as financial shares weakened ahead of a weekend meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers. Uncertainty about the outcome of the G20 meetings in South Korea, where delegates will seek a common path on economic issues, prompted some investors to head to the sidelines.
The index traded in a 59-point range through the day and held near the unchanged mark for much of the afternoon. "It's really a quiet day. Everyone's basically just standing pat and the thing is that we have the G20 this weekend," said Paul Gardner, partner and portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index gained 1.95 points to finish at 12,601.18, not enough to extend its streak of advances to a sixth straight week.
Eight of the index's 10 main groups were higher, but a 0.9 percent decline in financials was sufficient to limit the overall gain. Royal Bank of Canada was the main laggard, dropping just shy of 1 percent to C$55.76, while Bank of Nova Scotia fell 1.36 percent to C$54.55. Shaw Communications was a top net decliner, tumbling 5.67 percent to C$22.12, after its quarterly profit fell 1.6 percent, missing expectations.
On the upside, gold-mining shares rebounded from the previous session's selloff, with Barrick Gold rising 1.37 percent to C$47.26, and Agnico Eagle pushing up 1.48 percent to C$72.17. On the economic front, data showed Canadian retail sales in August beat forecasts, while inflation data in September was largely in line with expectations.
BONDS LITTLE CHANGED Canadian bond prices were mostly flat on Friday as the market remained largely subdued ahead of November's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, where the US central bank could announce further monetary stimulus.
Reaction to the Canadian economic data and corporate issuance throughout the day caused some gyrations across the curve, but the prevailing theme remains the expectation the Fed will engage in quantitative easing, said Ian Pollick, portfolio strategist at TD Securities. The two-year bond was down 2 Canadian cents to yield 1.401 percent, while the 30-year bond was up 15 Canadian cents to yield 3.439 percent. In new issuances, Royal Bank of Canada sold C$1.5 billion of medium-term notes on Friday, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.
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