Daily Wrap-up: TSX gains to 9-month high, ends flat oil decline

TSX gains to 9-month high, ends flat oil decline... Canadian companies’ profits fell in the first quarter... Trump would approve Keystone XL but there’s a catch... Wages edged higher in March but down on a year earlier...

Steve Randall
TSX gains to 9-month high, ends flat oil decline
Mining and financials pushed the main TSX index higher Friday but its second-best performance since August was tainted by new supply glut fears. Investors became cautious that producers may increase output amid stronger prices.

Wall Street also suffered losses ahead of a speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen and mixed economic data. The Nasdaq managed slim gains while the Dow and S&P were essentially flat.

European indexes managed to hold onto some of the session’s gains with most major indexes closing higher. Asian markets had also closed higher but before the slip for oil prices.
 
The S&/TSX Composite Index closed down 4.54 (0.03 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed down 23.22 (0.13 per cent)
Oil is trending lower (Brent $49.40, WTI $49.32 at 4.35pm)
Gold is trending lower (1219.80 at 4.35pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7706
 
Canadian companies’ profits fell in the first quarter
Operating profits for Canada’s corporations were down 4.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the last of 2015 according to Statistics Canada. The total profit generated was $73.1 billion and the $2.8 billion decline was due to losses in the energy sector. The sector lost more in the first three months of this year ($4.8 billion) was larger than that in any quarter during 2015.
 
Trump would approve Keystone XL but there’s a catch
If Donald Trump becomes US president, he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline he said Thursday. Celebrations at TransCanada would be tempered though by Trump’s dealbreaker – a “significant” slice of the profits for the US. President Obama had vetoed the pipeline to connect the Canadian oilsands to the Gulf Coast saying it wasn’t in the US national interest.
 
Wages edged higher in March but down on a year earlier
Average Canadian wages were up by 0.5 per cent in March compared to February but down 0.7 per cent from March 2015. Statistics Canada reported that non-farm payroll wages averaged $960 a week while working hours were slightly lower than a year earlier.

Four out of the 10 industrial sectors, retail and manufacturing were among those where wages increased while wholesale trade was among the main decliners.
 

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