By Shashwat Chauhan and Amruta Khandekar
(Reuters) -Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday, buoyed by stronger energy shares and miners, although concerns around rising interest rates to combat high inflation kept gains in check.
At 10:21 a.m. ET (14:21 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 124.64 points, or 0.67%, at 18,703.93, coming off session lows and setting up the index for a weekly gain.
Most of the sectors were in positive territory, led by a 1.7% gain in materials, which includes miners, as gold and silver prices edged up.
Energy stocks were up 0.8%, tracking crude prices higher, while the heavily weighted financials index rose 0.6%. [O/R]
Fears of aggressive policy tightening by central banks and prospects of an economic downturn have gripped markets ahead of several interest rate decisions due in the coming weeks, including from the Bank of Canada (BoC) and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The BoC will meet next Wednesday, with traders pricing in a supersized 75 basis point rate hike. Data earlier this week showed inflation easing slightly, but it was still above forecasts.
On Friday, data showed Canada’s retail sales grew 0.7% in August, blowing past expectations of an increase of 0.2%, according to economists polled by Reuters.
“Canadian economic numbers were decent, especially the retail sales, but there’s an overall global equity headwind,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
“Retail sales numbers show that at least certain parts of the economy are holding up reasonably well, so there’s really nothing standing in the way of the Bank of Canada to continue their program of raising interest rates.”
($1 = 1.3738 Canadian dollars)
