12:07 PM EDT, 07/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is up 182 points at midday, after three successive days of losses, with healthcare (+1.9%) and technology stocks (+1.6%), the biggest gainers.

Energy, down 0.4%, is the sole negative. In stocks, Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), is down nearly 6% and is the most actively traded on the TSX with 7.7 million shares changing hands. The company reported its second quarter results after hours on Thursday.

Oil prices weakened early on Friday after the U.S. reported a key inflation measure eased last month, firming expectations for a September interest rate cut.

But gold moved higher, rebounding form a day-prior drop as treasury yields weakened after the U.S. reported a key inflation measure slowed in June.

In terms of economics, there was something of interest out in both Canada and the United States, commentators note.

In the U.S., TD Economics noted personal income grew 0.2% month-on-month (m/m) in June, down from May's 0.4% gain, and below market expectations (also 0.4%).

On key implications, TD said today's report fills in some of the details of the headline numbers reported yesterday in the Q2 GDP advance release. "Despite mounting challenges, such as slowing income growth and dwindling savings, the U.S. consumer powered ahead, closing out the second quarter with a decent showing," it added. As such, TD noted, real personal consumption expenditure growth was 2.3% annualized in 2024 Q2 (up from 1.5% in Q1). The bank said most of the quarterly strength came from spending on goods (particularly durables), despite a solid showing from services spending in the final month of the quarter. "Ultimately," TD said, "with a decent handoff to Q3, consumers continue to display resilience, however continued cooling in the job market will put this to the test in the months ahead."

On the inflation front, TD said despite a slight uptick in the monthly core figure, the recent cooling trend is likely to be interpreted favorably by the Federal Reserve. It added: "The trend is good news and it adds to the recent string of positive CPI inflation readings. With mounting evidence that both the economy and inflation are cooling, the prospect for a rate cut later this year continue to improve."

Meanwhile, here in Canada, the Department of Finance said Friday in its latest Fiscal Monitor that for the first two months of the 2024-25 fiscal year (April and May), there was a budgetary deficit of $3.9 billion, compared to a surplus of $1.5 billion reported for the same period of 2023-24. By month, there was a deficit of $5.0 billion in April and a surplus of $1.1 billion in May 2024.