Stocks Stumble out of Gate Friday

Canada's main stock index opened lower on Friday, hurt by losses in commodity-linked sectors, while investors weighed mixed U.S.-China trade signals despite Beijing showing possible flexibility.

The TSX Composite Index tailed off 62.17 points to open the week’s last session at 24,665.36.

The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.02 cents to 72.18 cents U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is talking with China to strike a tariff deal and that Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him, according to a Time magazine interview published on Friday as Beijing continues to dispute U.S. characterization of talks.

Trump further stated in the interview that he would consider it a victory if the United States maintained 50% tariffs on foreign imports a year from now.

On the economic agenda, Statistics Canada reports retail sales decreased 0.4% to $69.3 billion in February. Sales were down in four of nine subsectors and were led by decreases at motor vehicle and parts dealers.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange ditched 2.24 points to 648.11.

Eight of the 12 subgroups lost ground in the first hour, with gold dulling in price 1.6%, telecoms off 1.2%, and industrials, trailing 0.8%.

The four gainers were led by information technology, struggling upward 0.5%, while energy cleared breakeven 0.2%, and consumer staples nicked higher 0.1%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks slipped on Friday following a three-day winning streak on Wall Street as investors weigh earnings from a major tech company and lingering trade fears.

The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 316 points to 39,777.40

The S&P index declined 19.09 points, or 2%, to 5,484.78

The NASDAQ Composite decreased 16.01 points to 17,150.04.

The moves come after what has been a solid weekly performance for the market. The S&P 500 has taken on 3.8% and the NASDAQ is up 5.4% this week. The Dow has climbed 2%.

Alphabet jumped 2% after the Google-parent and “Magnificent Seven” name reported a beat on the top and the bottom line for the first quarter. By contrast, Intel fell 8% after offering disappointing guidance and revealing that it plans to slash operational and capital expenses.

Sentiment was hurt a bit Friday after comments from President Donald Trump were published by Time magazine. The president said he would consider it a “total victory” if the U.S. has high tariffs of 20% to 50% on foreign countries a year from now. Trump also denied that rising yields forced his hand in granting a 90-day pause on most of the higher tariff rates.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained ground Friday, lowering yields to 4.28% from Thursday’s 4.31%. Treasury prices and yields in opposite directions.

Oil prices hesitated 16 cents to $62.63 U.S. a barrel.

Prices for gold stumbled $57.70 to $3,290.90 U.S.