S&P/TSX composite rises 150 points Friday, U.S. markets also higher

Canada’s main stock index rose almost 150 points Friday on broad-based gains, ending the week up 2.8 per cent

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 148.90 points at 20,360.10

U.S. markets also rose. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 112.64 points at 34,302.61. The S&P 500 index was up 15.92 points at 3,999.09,while the Nasdaq composite was up 78.05 points at 11,079.16.

Markets on both sides of the border were up on the week, with the S&P/TSX composite gaining 2.8 per cent from last Friday’s close. The Dow gained 2.0 per cent, while the S&P 500 was up 2.7 per cent and the Nasdaq 4.8 per cent.

Markets opened down Friday but moved up throughout the day, said Ian Chong, associate portfolio manager for First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc.

That’s likely because major U.S. banks kicked off earnings season Friday with decent numbers but less-than-sunny outlooks, Chong said. However, in earnings calls their CEOs spoke about consumer resilience and helped reassure investors, he said.

“I think that brought a lot of ease into the market,” he said.

JPMorgan, for example, called for a “mild” recession this year.

Market sentiment Friday, much like the CEOs’ messaging, was cautiously optimistic, said Chong.

“The consumer is still in a very strong balance sheet position in terms of deposits. So even if they’re spending a little bit more, as the interest rates continue to move up, they can manage through it,” he said.

Next week will see retail sales released in both Canada and the U.S., with the latter giving insight into how the consumer fared during the holiday shopping season (Canada’s data on retail trade will cover November). Retail sales are expected to slump on both sides of the border, said Chong.

In Canada, all eyes will be on inflation data ahead of an all-but-certain 25-basis-point interest rate hike the following week.

Meanwhile, after positive news on the inflation front in the U.S. this week, a 25-basis-point hike from the Federal Reserve is looking more and more likely, said Chong.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.59 cents UScompared with 74.75 cents US on Thursday.

The February crude contract was up US$1.47 at US$79.86 per barreland the February natural gas contract was down 28 cents at US$3.42 per mmBTU.

The February gold contract was up US$22.90 at US$1,921.70 an ounceand the March copper contract was up almost two cents at US$4.22 a pound.