TSX Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended modestly higher on Friday, after staying positive right through the session on bargain hunting after a setback in the previous session.

Upbeat results from some big-name U.S. companies aided sentiment.

Shares from consumer staples, consumer discretionary, information technology and industrials sections posted strong gains. Financial, telecom, mining and healthcare shares turned in a mixed performance, while energy stocks were weak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 42.84 points, or 0.26%, at 16,531.04, after moving in a narrow range of about 35 points, between 16,521.85 and 16,556.52. The index gained about 0.3% in the week.

Weston George (WN.TO) gained 3.3% after the company reported second-quarter net profit of $184 million, compared to $28 million in the same period last year. The company reported sales of $11.6 billion for the quarter ended June 15, up 3.2% from $11.2 billion a year earlier.

Loblaw (L.TO), Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD.B.TO), Metro Inc. (MRU.TO) and Empire Company (EMP.A.TO) were the other notable gainers in the consumer staples space.

In the consumer discretionary section, The Stars Group (TSGI.TO), Dollarama (DOL.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO) gained 1 to 2.5%.

Information technology stocks Sierra Wireless (SW.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO), Quarterhill (QTRH.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) gained 1.5 to 2.1%. Enghouse Systems (ENGH.TO), CGI Group (GIB.A.TO), Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) and Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO) also close with notable gains.

In the Industrials section, Aecon Group Inc. (ARE.TO) shares soared nearly 10% after the company said it posted a net profit of $20.4 million in the second quarter.

Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO), Tfi International (TFI.TO) and Air Canada (AC.TO) gained 3.3 to 4.3%. Cargojet (CJT.TO) advanced 2.85%, while Toromont Industries (TIH.TO) and Richelieu Hardware (RCH.TO) gained 2% and 1.6%, respectively. WSP Global (WSP.TO), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.TO) and Waste Connections (WCN.TO) also ended on a firm note.

Shares of CannTrust Holdings Inc. (TRST.TO) rallied sharply after the company's board fired its CEO Peter Aceto and asked its chairman to resign after it discovered new information during an internal investigation into alleged unlicensed pot growing by the cannabis producer.

U.S. stocks moved mostly higher on Friday. The S&P and the Nasdaq reached new record closing highs. For the week, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 jumped by 2.3% and 1.7%, respectively, but the narrower Dow inched up by just 0.1%.

The rally by the tech-heavy Nasdaq was partly due to spike by shares of Google parent Alphabet, which soared by 9.6% after the tech giant reported its second quarter results.

Major European markets ended higher, while Asian markets closed mostly lower.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.18, or about 0.3%, at $56.20 a barrel.

Gold futures for August ended up $4.60, or about 0.3%, at $1,419.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended down $0.014, at $16.397 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled at $2.6850 per pound, down $0.0185 from previous close.