![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6977485.1721935249!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
LIVE UPDATES Rain reduces wildfire activity, aids firefighters: Jasper park officials
Jasper National Park officials said Thursday night that rain over the day resulted in "minimal fire behaviour and spread."
Canada's main stock index gained almost 100 points Friday, while U.S. markets mostly held on to their gains after soaring the day before.
This was a strong week for earnings, with a focus on chipmaker Nvidia and its "halo effect" on markets, said Tamsin Wilding, principal and portfolio manager for fixed income at Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.
Nvidia reported earnings after the bell on Wednesday that prompted a strong rally across markets the next day. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow notched new records.
Markets mostly held on to those gains Friday as earnings continued to roll in. The S&P 500 and the Dow both edged higher, again to new records, while the Nasdaq took a small step lower.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 62.42 points at 39,131.53. The S&P 500 index was up 1.77 points at 5,088.80, while the Nasdaq composite was down 44.80 points at 15,996.82.
This week, investors also continued to pare back their expectations for interest rate cuts, said Wilding, continuing to bring them more in line with what the U.S. Federal Reserve has said it expects for 2024. The central bank previously said it expects to cut three times this year, but markets were anticipating more than that and have had to ease their bets over the past couple of months.
Markets are currently pricing in the likelihood of the Fed holding rates steady in both March and May, while cuts look more likely in June and the following months, according to data from CME Group.
Equity markets are becoming more comfortable with the narrative that rates will stay higher for a little longer, said Wilding.
If this week was largely about earnings in the U.S., next week will be more about economic data as investors will watch for the latest core PCE report, an inflation gauge preferred by the Fed.
"I think the market’s potentially a little bit nervous about some of that CPI strength bleeding into core PCE, which would further delay rate cuts,” said Wilding.
“I think the Fed’s waiting to see that validation of inflation progress continue.”
Next week will also see the latest GDP numbers in Canada.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 95.07 points at 21,413.15.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.11 cents US, unchanged from Thursday.
The April crude contract was down US$2.12 at US$76.49 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down 13 cents at US$1.70 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,049.40 an ounce and the May copper contract was down one cent at US$3.90 a pound.
With files from The Associated Press
Jasper National Park officials said Thursday night that rain over the day resulted in "minimal fire behaviour and spread."
The Canadian Olympic Committee has removed women's national soccer team head coach Bev Priestman over a drone scandal, according to a press release from the organization.
A woman in Yukon believes her hair clip helped save her during a bear attack.
Newly released financial reports show that William, the Prince of Wales, drew a salary of $42.1 million last fiscal year, his first since inheriting the vast and lucrative Duchy of Cornwall.
On Wednesday night, the owner of Maligne Lodge in Jasper, Alta., was shocked to receive a photo of her business engulfed in flames.
The Law Society of British Columbia says a DNA test shows a former judge and Order of Canada recipient accused of falsely claiming to be Cree "most likely" has Indigenous heritage.
Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden.
As fire threatened people in Jasper National Park, Colleen Knull sprung into action.
A Saskatchewan-born veteran of the Second World War was recently presented with France's highest national order.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.