Financial numbers flow on the digital ticker tape at the TMX Group in Toronto's financial district on May 9, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Republished August 30, 2019 - 2:11 PM
Original Publication Date August 30, 2019 - 8:31 AM
TORONTO - Canada's main stock index finished in the black ahead of the long weekend, while markets south of the border were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 57.58 points to 16,442.07.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average advanced 41.03 points to 26,403.28. The S&P 500 index gained 1.88 points to 2,926.46, while the Nasdaq composite fell 10.51 points to 7,962.88.
The markets didn't have much direction on the last day of August, said Mike Archibald, an associate portfolio manager with AGF Investments Inc.
The major theme was volatility during intraday trading, he said, with the stock market opening quite strongly, then selling off quite a bit before trending closer to flat.
That volatility will likely continue until investors gain more clarity on what actions central banks plan to take next month, he said, along with more guidance on the ongoing trade tensions between China and the U.S.
The Canadian dollar averaged 75.22 cents US, up from an average of 75.21 cents US on Thursday.
The loonie moved up sharply after Statistics Canada released a report showing the Canadian economy beat expectations in its second quarter with its strongest quarterly stretch of growth in two years, though the currency ended up almost flat on the day after a more careful read of the data, said Archibald.
"As people have digested that information, they've realized that it's probably not as good as the headline number looks."
The Canadian economy expanded at an annualized pace of 3.7 per cent in the quarter, according to the agency.
In commodities, the October crude contract shed US$1.61 to US$55.10 per barrel and the October natural gas contract dropped about a penny to roughly US$2.29 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract lost US$7.50 to US$1,529.40 an ounce and the December copper contract retreated by about three cents to US$2.55 a pound.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)
News from © The Canadian Press, 2019