Canada's main stock index ended modestly lower on Friday, weighed by financial and railway companies, though better-than-expected results from BlackBerry offset some of the losses as its stock surged. Despite the small decline, the Toronto stock market ended the first quarter up 1.7 percent, its fifth consecutive quarterly advance. Although the market hit a record high last month, it has pulled back somewhat since.
"We had a bit of a consolidation toward the end of this quarter, which I think was very healthy," said Rick Hutcheon, president and chief operating officer at RKH Investments. Shares of BlackBerry Ltd jumped 11.1 percent to C$10.3 after the company reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings and said it expects to be profitable on an adjusted basis in 2018. But the market was weighed by declines in financial shares, including Royal Bank of Canada, which fell 1.0 percent to C$96.89. Bank of Nova Scotia declined 1.1 percent to C$77.8. The overall financials group slipped 0.6 percent.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 31.01 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,547.75. Of the index's 10 main groups, six fell. CIBC, which fell nearly 3 percent on Thursday after it raised its offer for PrivateBancorp Inc, recouped some of the previous session's losses, rising 0.8 percent to C$114.67. Canada's two biggest rail operators also dragged, with Canadian Pacific Railway slipping 1.0 percent to C$195.35 and Canadian National Railway off 0.5 percent to C$98.16.
Energy stocks tracked moves in oil prices, which edged up after falling below $50 a barrel. The Canadian energy group edged up 0.2 percent. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 129 to 110, for a 1.17-to-1 ratio on the upside. The index posted 10 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows.
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