The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — North American stocks ended the week virtually flat in Friday trading with Canada’s main stock index getting a lift primarily from cannabis stocks that offset weakness in energy and materials.

Nothing really critical came out of U.S. markets on Friday, as stronger consumer spending in July and August was muted by Chinese trade tariff comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, said Patrick Blais, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management.

“It’s a little bit more of a stable environment today, so no clear direction in terms of just marketmoving news,” he said in an interview.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 8.68 points to 26,154.67.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.8 points to 2,904.98, while the Nasdaq composite was off 3.67 points to 8,010.04.

Some reports issued Friday were supportive of the continued strength of the U.S. economy, he said. Even though August retail sales were a little weaker, an upward revision in July numbers pointed to strong consumer spending in the two summer months.

That reinforces expectations that the Federal Reserve will probably raise interest rates twice during the remainder of the year and at a more aggressive pace than in Canada, helping the U.S. greenback, said Blais.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.73 cents US compared with an average of 76.94 cents US on Thursday.