A five-day winning streak for Canada's main stock index ended on Friday, but only just, as energy shares pulled back from a recent rally while mining stocks pushed higher on rising bullion prices. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 14.30 points, or 0.10 percent, at 13,964.36, with advancers and decliners almost evenly split.
Investors pushed the index up almost 5 percent this week, largely on the back of gains in the heavyweight energy sector, as appetite for riskier assets pushed commodities prices higher. That sentiment was helped by minutes from the US Federal Reserve's September meeting that showed it was in no hurry to hike interest rates, which pushed gold to a seven-week high.
Gold miners were among the index's top performers, with Goldcorp Inc rising 6.1 percent to C$18.75 and Barrick Gold Corp up 5.5 percent to C$9.84. The weekly gains was the biggest so far this year, and put the index at its highest level since August. "We've had a decent period of consolidation. This correction that we've seen has let off some of the steam in the markets," said Philip Petursson, managing director for capital markets and strategy at Manulife Asset Management.
"Now we can re-evaluate on somewhat better valuations, more realistic earnings expectations, and a more favorable outlook over the next 12 months," he said. Heavily-weighted Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc also boosted the index, jumping 2.1 percent to C$227.56. Suncor Energy Inc lost 1.3 percent to C$36.67 and TransCanada Corp fell 1.7 percent to C$45.05. Overall, energy stocks eased 1.3 percent, while the financials group slipped 0.6 percent.
US crude prices were up 0.1 percent to $49.50 a barrel, while Brent crude lost 1.1 percent to $52.48. Gold futures rose 1.1 percent to $1,157.1 an ounce. The materials group, where miners and other non-energy resource names reside, jumped 1.8 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank led the financials retreat, dipping 0.9 percent to C$53.05, while Royal Bank of Canada was off 0.7 percent at C$73.90.
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