Gold pushes TSX, loonie higher

Canada’s largest stock index ended a down week in the black Friday as gold pushed the loonie and the materials sector higher and oil endured its sixth consecutive week of declining prices.

The January crude contract was unchanged at US$56.68 per barrel Friday but was down almost six per cent for the week as it ended an unprecedented 12-day run of falling prices. West Texas Intermediate was down 26 per cent from its peak in early October.

The December natural gas contract was up 23.4 cents at US$4.27 per mmBTU.

While some small energies companies moved up, the energy sector on the TSX was down half a per cent on the day as bigger names weakened with the West Canadian Select closing marginally higher from its low.

“So I think it’s just a question of investors wrapping their head around Canadian energy given the particular challenges that we’re facing with takeaway capacity being so constrained,” said Patrick Blais, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management.

Low Canadian oil prices will force producers to cut production next year which will have a significant economic impact, he added.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 10.62 points to 15,155.50, but down from 15.274.44 a week ago.

The volatile health-care sector closed off two per cent Friday while technology and consumer discretionary rebounded. Materials and telecommunications also closed higher.

The December gold contract was up US$8 at US$1,223 an ounce and the December copper contract was up 5.20 cents at US$2.80 a pound.

“It’s normal to see a bounce back in gold and precious metals, especially given the pressure they’ve been under over the last year,” Blais said in an interview.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.02 cents US compared with an average of 75.75 cents US on Thursday.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 123.95 points to 25,413.22.