TSX Positive by Noon Friday

The TSX came off its highs of the morning, but remained positive 25.54 points to break for lunch Friday at 20,322.63.

The Canadian dollar slid 0.11 cents to 73.97 cents U.S.

Canadian markets will be shuttered Monday for Victoria Day.

Among company news, Absolute Software added 24 cents, or 1.6%, to $15.52, after Edenbrook Capital, which owns 10.4% of the firm, said Crosspoint Capital Partners' deal to take the software company private undervalues it.

Cineplex slid three cents to $10.00, after the federal Competition Bureau filed a lawsuit saying it broke the law by adding an additional fee that raises the price of its tickets purchased online.

WestJet and a pilots union reached a tentative agreement, averting a strike set to begin as early as Friday. But Onex Corp, which owns the airline, shed 64 cents, or 1.1%, to $59.51.

In the economic docket, Statistics Canada says retail sales decreased 1.4% to $65.3 billion in March.

The agency says sales decreased in five of the nine subsectors, led by 4.4% decreases at motor vehicle and parts dealers and 3.9% drops at gasoline stations and fuel vendors.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange regained 3.62 points to 612.65.

Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were in plus territory, with gold shining 1.1% brighter, communications traveling 0.8%, and materials stronger 0.7%.

The four laggards were weighed mostly by financials, sliding 0.3%, health-care, down 0.2%, and real-estate, off 0.1%

ON WALLSTREET

Stocks fell Friday, GOP negotiators halted ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, stoking doubt of a deal being reached soon.

The Dow Jones Industrials changed course and actually fell 124.3 points to reach noon hour EDT at 33,411.61.

The S&P 500 descended 7.49 points to 4,190.56.

The NASDAQ subtracted 33.65 points to 12,655.19.

Those moves come after GOP negotiators on Friday walked out of a debt ceiling meeting, with Rep. Garret Graves saying the White House team is “unreasonable,” according to NBC News. “We’re not going to sit here and talk to ourselves,” Graves said.

Friday’s losses were kept in check, however, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said interest rates may not have to rise as much as expected to quell inflation.

The major averages remained on trad for weekly gains. The S&P 500 is up 1.7% week to date. That would be its biggest one-week advance since March. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, has risen 3.1% for the week. That would also be its best weekly performance since March. The Dow is up 0.4%.

A chunk of those gains came Thursday, as traders mounted bets that a U.S. debt ceiling deal could be reached. Comments from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Thursday seemed to suggest a potential deal could come as soon as next week.

Nevertheless, SoFi’s Liz Young advised caution for investors, saying there are troubling signs ahead even as stocks continue to trade in a tight range in search of a catalyst.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury skidded bit, raising yields to 3.66% from Thursday’s 3.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices docked 17 cents to $71.77 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices recovered $16.50 to $1,976.30 U.S. an ounce.