North American stock market indexes rose at the start of trading on Friday as concerns over the Greek debt crisis faded again.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 16 points or 0.2 per cent, to 10,943. The broader S&P 500 rose 4 points or 0.3 per cent, to 1190.
Despite a report in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that U.S. banks distorted their risk levels recently by lowering their debt levels before reporting their quarterly results, the stocks seemed unaffected. Among the banks mentioned in the report, JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 0.5 per cent and Citigroup Inc. rose 1.3 per cent.
In other moves, Alcoa Inc. fell 1.7 per cent and Chevron Corp. rose 1.2 per cent In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 39 points or 0.3 per cent, to 12,152.
Shoppers Drug Mart Corp., which was hammered on Thursday after the Ontario government announced changes to funding for generic drugs, was unchanged. However, convenience-store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. fell 3.1 per cent after it proposed a $1.9-billion (U.S.) takeover of Casey's General Stores, Inc.
Shaw Communications Inc. rose 0.2 per cent after the telecommunications company announced plans to launch a wireless service next year, ending speculation that it would enter the wireless market.