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TORONTO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Canada's main stock market finished marginally ahead on Friday, as Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples led the way in a day which saw little fluctuation in all sectors.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite ticked up 9.06 points, or 0.06 percent, to close the week at 15,442.67 points. Six of the 10 sub-groups finished the day ahead.
Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples highlighted the biggest gainers on the day, advancing 0.66 percent and 0.43 percent, apiece.
The Consumer Discretionary group, which consists of producers of non-essentials goods such as automobiles, apparel and entertainment, was led by Montreal-based online gambling firm Amaya Inc..
Its shares jumped 3.81 percent to 22.63 Canadian dollars after the company CEO said the company was looking into acquisitions.
The news came two days after the company reported better than expected fourth-quarter earnings due to lower costs. Amaya currently owns a collection of online gambling brands with more than 108 million registered customers. Their most well-known brand is PokerStars, the world's largest online poker room in the world.
Also advancing within the group were mattress maker Sleep Country and basic apparel maker Gildan Activewear Inc., rising 3.39 percent and 1.57 percent, each.
The TSX Consumer Staples group, which is made up of firms in the food industry, was propped up by three of the country's largest supermarket chains.
Empire Company Limited led the way with a 2.09 percent uplift to close at 19.50 Canadian dollars, while Loblaws Company Limited and Metro Inc. saw respective gains of 0.47 percent and 0.29 percent.
The remaining groups to end the week on top were: Utilities (0.61 percent), Telecommunications (0.37 percent), Energy (0.08 percent), and Information Technology (0.08 percent).
Energy finished ahead as the price of crude oil bounced back from a four-month low. The May futures price of Brent in London gained 0.77 percent to end the day at 50.93 U.S. dollars a barrel. Entering the day, the benchmark crude oil had traded lower in 12 of the last 13 days for a cumulative loss of 9.57 percent.
The group was influenced by mostly Calgary-based firms. Spartan Energy Corp. was the second most actively traded stock on the day and ended at 2.50 Canadian dollars, a 3.31 percent spike.
Meanwhile, Cenovus Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources saw shares advance 0.54 percent and 0.52 percent, each.
The news was not all good on Friday, as MEG Energy Corp. and Baytex Energy Corp. dragged the group down with respective dips of 3.94 percent and 2.77 percent.
On the losing side were four groups that experienced minor losses. Materials led the way with a 0.23 percent decline, while Industrials, Health Care and Financials rounded out the list with respective losses of 0.09 percent, 0.06 percent, and 0.03 percent.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that consumer price index rose 0.2 percent in February. The percentage change on an annual basis fell during the month from 2.1 percent to 2.0 percent.
By category, clothing and footwear led the way with a 2.0 percent gain, while recreation and education rose 1.7 percent. Gasoline was the biggest deterrent with a 3.0 percent decline.
The Canadian dollar finished the day down 0.16 cents to close the week at 0.7474 U.S. dollars.
