By Adriano Marchese


Stocks in Toronto were higher mid-trading Friday, the last trading day of September, climbing throughout the morning to 210.33 points above open.

According to FactSet, the TSX is trending to end the week ahead, but will likely see a drop of around 4% in the month. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar is on track for weekly a decline of 1% against the greenback. In the session, most sectors were higher, led by materials, health tech and technology services, while consumer durables, communications and transportation posted the greatest declines. Ballard Power Systems Inc. rose after it announced plans to spend $130 million on new manufacturing facilities in China to support fuel-cell production.

At midday, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was 1.13% higher at 18650.73 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was up by 1.05% at 1130.53.

Shares in Ballard Power Systems were 3% higher at C$8.62 after the company said it came to an agreement with local Chinese officials to establish a new China headquarters in Shanghai, one of the country's largest automotive manufacturing locations.


Other market movers:

NorZinc Ltd. shares dropped nearly 13% to C$0.04 after it said that RCF VI CAD LLC, an existing shareholder with a 48.31% stake, will buy the shares it doesn't already own at a price of 0.0325 Canadian cents a share, the equivalent of two U.S. cents.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. and American Electric Power Co. have agreed to lower the price Algonquin will pay to buy Kentucky Power Co. and AEP Kentucky Transmission Co. Shares of Algonquin were 0.1% higher at C$15.18.


Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-30-22 1219ET