TSX Settles Marginally Up, Ends Week With 1.1% Gain

(RTTNews) - After a steady start and a subsequent long spell in positive territory, the Canadian stock market briefly slipped below the unchanged line on Friday, but eventually managed to settle marginally higher.

Optimism about U.S.-China trade talks and higher crude oil prices contributed to market's strength for much of the session.

Although the market got off to a firm start and stocks gained in strength as the session progressed, buying interest turned subdued later as investors looked for more positive triggers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 12.15 points, or 0.08%, at 16,013.01, after scaling a low of 15,997.37 and a high of 16,070.99 in the session.

On Thursday, the index ended down 30.38 points, or 0.19%, at 16,000.86. For the week, the index gained about 1.1%.

Gains in information technology and consumer discretionary stocks lifted the market to a positive close. Energy and materials shares started off on a bright note, but pared their gains as the day progressed.

Financial, consumer staples, real estate and telecom shares ended mixed.

Lunding Mining Corporation (LUN.TO) jumped 6.6%. B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO) gained 3.3% and Eldorado Gold Corporation (ELD.TO) advanced 3.2%. First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) ended stronger by about 4.2% and Hudbay Minerals Inc. (HBM.TO) gained 7.6%.

CanTrust Holdings (TRST.TO) jumped 2.35%, Village Farms International (VFF.TO) soared 8.8%

According to reports, trade talks between the U.S. and China will continue with Chinese negotiators set to extend their visit to Washington to build on the progress made during this week's talks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also told reporters that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may meet in March and that the possibility of such a meeting will depend on the outcome of the next few days of negotiations.

Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu met in White House today and Trump is reported to have said during the meeting that officials from the two countries are making "a lot of progress" in the trade talks and that there was a "very good chance" the two countries could reach a long-term deal. He is also reported to have said "who knows" whether a final agreement will be struck.

U.S. stocks moved mostly higher, more than offsetting the moderate weakness seen in the previous session. With the upward move, the major averages reached their best closing levels in over three months.

The Down climbed 0.7%, the Nasdaq gained 0.9% and the S&P 500 finished with a gain of 0.6%.

Most of the markets in Europe ended higher on Friday, while Asian markets ended mixed.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended up $0.30, or 0.5%, at $57.26 a barrel, the best settlement since November 12.

Gold futures for April ended up $5.00, or 0.4%, at $1,332.80 an ounce, after suffering their biggest single-session loss in about six months on Thursday.

Silver futures for March ended up $0.113, at $15.914 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $2.9515 per pound, gaining $0.0545 for the session.