Canadian Stocks Close Near Record as Black Friday Boosts Retail

Canadian stocks closed near a record high Friday amid higher oil prices and retail optimism, with all but one sector in the green.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 34 points or 0.2 percent to 16,108.09, the highest in nearly three weeks. The weekly gain was 0.7 percent.

Consumer discretionary stocks added 0.6 percent as Black Friday deals drew shoppers to bricks-and-mortar stores. Dollarama Inc. rose 1.2 percent.

The energy sector gained 0.3 percent as the price of crude jumped 1.6 percent. Russia and OPEC have reportedly reached the outline of a deal to extend production cuts.

In other moves:

Stocks

Aurora Cannabis Inc. jumped 7.4 percent and CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. fell 1.3 percent. Aurora launched a hostile takeover bid for CanniMed, while CanniMed said Aurora’s share price is inflated The Stars Group Inc. rose 1.1 percent after reaching a deal to sell its holdings of NYX Gaming Group Ltd. to Scientific Games Corp. Empire Co. Ltd. gained 1.1 percent. The Globe and Mail reported that the Sobeys grocery chain, owned by Empire, is cutting 20 percent of its office staff

Commodities

Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $17.25 discount to WTI Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.42 discount to Henry Hub Gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,291.80 an ounce

FX/Bonds

The Canadian dollar was unchanged at C$1.2713 per U.S. dollar The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell one basis point to 1.89 percent