Stocks Slump as Gold Falls
Canada's main stock index opened lower on Friday, dragged by losses in heavyweight mining shares after gold fell to a near one-month low, while investors assessed a mixed bag of economic data.
The TSX Composite Index declined 49.86 points to open Friday at 26,702.09
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.02 cents to 73.28 cents U.S.
Global investor sentiment was lifted after a White House official said late on Thursday that Washington has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earths shipments to the U.S.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reports real gross domestic product edged down 0.1% in April, driven in large part by declines in the manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 7.82 points, or 1.1%, to 720.97.
Still, eight of the 12 TSX subgroups gained, with health-care ahead 2%, real-estate chugging 0.6%, and utilities better by 0.4%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, duller by 3.6%, materials, off 2.8%, and consumer staples dipping 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose to a new record on Friday, the culmination of an improbable turnaround for U.S. stocks this year as they overcame trade turmoil and geopolitics to reclaim the record set in February. Friday's gain was driven by hope that trade deals with China and other countries are coming soon.
The Dow Jones Industrials zoomed 314.95 points to 43,701.79.
The much-broader index advanced 33.1 points to begin the week's last session at 6,174.12.
The NASDAQ Composite tacked on 119.13 points to 20,287.04, also a new record high.
Late Thursday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg News that a framework between China and the U.S. on trade had been finalized.
Lutnick added that the Trump administration expects to reach deals with 10 major trading partners imminently.
President Donald Trump also said Thursday 'we just signed with China yesterday.' A White House official later clarified he meant China agreed to 'an additional understanding of a framework to implement the Geneva agreement.' China's Ministry of Commerce also said Friday that the two countries had confirmed a trade framework that would allow the export of rare earths to the U.S. and ease tech restrictions.
After rising to a new high in February on hopes for business-friendly policies from Trump, stocks tumbled as the president decided to instead implement stiff tariffs first.
At its low in April, the S&P 500 was down nearly 18% for 2025. The benchmark then began a stunning comeback after Trump walked back his stiffest tariff rates and the U.S. began negotiations for trade deals.
Nvidia hit an all-time high again on Friday, up 0.9%. Microsoft notched a new record as well before hovering around the little-changed mark.
Prices for the 10-year treasury dropped slightly, raising yields to 4.26% from Thursday's 4.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices resurged 52 cents to $65.76 U.S. a barrel.
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