Daily Wrap-Up: TSX dips despite GDP growth

TSX dips despite GDP growth... Canadian economy grew 0.6 per cent in January... Blackberry surprises with quarterly results...

Daily Wrap-Up: TSX dips despite GDP growth
Steve Randall
TSX dips despite GDP growth
Canada’s main equities index closed lower again Friday as healthcare, utilities and financials slipped.

Gains for commodities and another monthly gain for GDP were not enough to maintain a positive end to the session, but Canada was not alone as Wall Street’s three main indexes and most Asian bourses also closed lower.

European indexes were the best performers of the day, except London’s FTSE, as EU negotiators set out their draft Brexit proposals with some tough talk. Britain could be forced to give up significant concessions and potentially hand over the Crown dependency of Gibraltar unless deals can be done!

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 31.01 (0.20 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed down 65.27 (0.31 per cent)
Oil is trending mixed (Brent down at $52.74, WTI up at $50.77 at 4.45pm)
Gold is trending higher (1250.50 at 4.45pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7519

Canadian economy grew 0.6 per cent in January
The latest GDP figures were released Friday and show a 0.6 per cent gain for the economy at the start of 2016.

Statistics Canada’s data reveals that both goods and service producing industries gained but goods producers led with a 1.1 per cent rise while services were up 0.4 per cent. Manufacturers gained 1.9 per cent.

The economy has grown in 7 of the past 8 months and analysts believe that the Bank of Canada’s forecasts for the first quarter will prove to be lower than they turn out to be, even if February and March fail to match the growth of January.

Blackberry surprises with quarterly results
Blackberry has posted quarterly results that have surprised the market and led to a 15 per cent jump for its shares early in Friday’s session.

The fourth quarter showed revenue of $286 million, down 38 per cent from a year earlier but the loss for the quarter was $47 million, compared to $238 million.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 13 cents per share but the Ontario-based firm posted a 4 cents per share adjusted profit.

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