The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index ended higher on Friday as a rise in energy issues offset weakness spurred by Bank of Montreal's warning that natural gas trading losses will cut profits. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 34.49 points, or 0.3 percent, at 13,632.01.
The benchmark index is down 0.2 percent on the week, and 5.6 percent so far this year. "Again it's the resources that are kind of holding the TSE above water," said Steve Ibel, institutional equities trader at Beacon Securities, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "We'll probably be looking for further strength in that area going into next week."
Five of the TSX index's 10 main groups were higher, led by a 1 percent rise in the energy sector and a 0.4 percent climb in the materials sector, which together comprise more than 40 percent of the index's total weight.
Shares of oil and gas companies rose along with US crude oil, which settled up $1.40 to $66.46 on continued concern over world energy supplies after Saudi Arabia said it foiled an al Qaeda-linked plot to attack the kingdom's oil facilities.
Suncor Energy Inc rose C$1.57, or 1.7 percent, to C$91.76, while Canadian Natural Resources Ltd jumped 84 Canadian cents, or 1.3 percent, to C$67.60. The resource-laden materials group also helped to prop up the index due to firmness in underlying commodities. Shares of Barrick Gold Corp rose 12 Canadian cents, or 0.4 percent, to C$31.87.
"There was a little bit of a sentiment change probably late in the day," said Lex Kerkovius, senior research analyst at McLean & Partners Wealth Management Ltd, in Calgary, Alberta. The late move higher was likely due to a rebound in energy and the market shrugging off data that showed weaker US economic growth, he added. Bank shares, which account for about 30 percent of the index's overall weight, dropped after Bank of Montreal said it expects a pretax trading loss of between C$350 million and C$450 million, mainly due trading losses in natural gas.
But the financials sector held on and ended flat for the day, with shares of BMO down C$1.27, or 1.8 percent, to C$70, while Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce slipped 54 Canadian cents, or 0.6 percent to C$98.01.
Elsewhere, shares of TransCanada Corp fell 35 Canadian cents, or 0.9 percent, to C$39.64 after the company said first-quarter profit slipped 2.9 percent from a year-earlier. Brookfield Properties Corp rose 31 Canadian cents, or 0.7 percent, to C$45.95 after it reported an 8 percent rise in first-quarter profit, and said acquisitions could lift 2007 results to the high end of its forecasts.
Market volume was 345 million shares worth C$6.2 billion. Decliners narrowly outpaced advancers 801 to 793. The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index closed 1.46 points higher, or 0.19 percent, at 779.04. South of the border, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 15.44 points, or 0.12 percent, at 13,120.94, its third straight record close, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 2.75 points, or 0.11 percent, at 2,557.21.