The markets in Toronto and New York both finished up today despite some back and forth trading.
Energy stocks were able to make up for losses in gold, natural resources, and cannabis to push the TSX 44 points higher to 15,452. The losses in cannabis were caused by the government’s announcement on Thursday that legalization is going to be pushed back yet again.
The Dow Jones gave up early gains on the news of more than a dozen Russian indictments for interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but still managed to post its sixth winning day in a row, up 19 points to 25,219. On the plus side worries over higher inflation and sooner-than-expected interest rate increases south of the border seem to have calmed somewhat, as the markets were far less volatile this week than last.
Stats Canada says manufacturing sales were down in December compared to a record November. They fell 0.3 per cent to $55.5 billion. And in afterhours trading oil is up 36 cents to $61.53 U.S. per barrel, gold is down $4.40 to $1350 an ounce, and the loonie is down nearly two thirds of a per cent to 79.63 cents U.S.