North American stocks moved modestly higher at the start of trading on Friday, helped by rising commodity producers.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10 points or 0.1 per cent, to 10,445. The broader S&P 500 rose 1 point, or 0.1 per cent, to 1117. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index rose 26 points or 0.2 per cent, to 11,972.
Among U.S. commodity producers, DuPont rose 0.7 per cent and Alcoa Inc. rose 0.6 per cent. However, energy stocks were relatively flat after the price of crude oil fell 52 cents, to $76.27 (U.S.) a barrel. Chevron Corp. fell 0.2 per cent and in Canada Suncor Energy Inc. was flat.
Meanwhile, gold producers continued to move higher with the price of gold. Gold rose $10 an ounce, to $1259, sending Barrick Gold Corp. up 0.9 per cent.
In other moves, Walgreen Co., the U.S. pharmacy chain, surged 6.4 per cent after is reached an agreement with CVS Caremark Corp. that gives Walgreen access to its pharmacy benefit agreement network, ending a dispute between the two companies.
Canadian financials were also generally higher, with Royal Bank of Canada up 0.2 per cent and Bank of Nova Scotia up 0.5 per cent.