It's been a tough week for cannabis stocks, but things were looking brighter on Friday, with broad-based gains across North American markets.
The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, was up 1.7% to 247.4 points on Friday. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF was up 2% to C$18.99. The newly launched OTCQX Cannabis Index was up 1% at 782.2 points.
Buds
() (OTCMKTS:NXTTF) shares were on the rise Friday after it announced that the management cease trade order imposed by the British Columbia securities commission (BCSC) and the Ontario securities commission (OSC) in April has been lifted.
Shares were up 2.7% at C$0.77 in Toronto, up 1% at US$0.58 in New York.
With the lifting of the cease trade order, directors, officers and other insiders of Namaste are allowed to trade the company's common shares.
Namaste itself put forward the application for the management cease-trade order, due to the late filing of its annual financial statements for the 15 months ended November 30, 2018, as well as interim financial statements for the quarter ended February 28, 2019 and interim filings.
READ: Namaste sees management cease-trade order lifted
Other gainers on Friday included () (OTCMKTS:HRVOF), which was up 4.2% at C$0.74 and up 2.6% at US$0.55.
Yesterday, the firm announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Satipharm Ltd will distribute its proprietary Satipharm CBD Gelpell capsule in the UK and Ireland.
Harvest One, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, will distribute the 10 miligram CBD capsule through Holland & Barrett, Europe's largest retailer of nutritional supplements and wellness products.
READ: Harvest One to distribute Satipharm CBD Gelpell capsules in UK and Ireland
Shares of Valens GroWorks () (OTCMKTS:VGWCF) were on the rise Friday, which was up 6.6% at C$3.87 in Toronto, up 6% at US$2.90 in New York.
Earlier this week, Proactive spoke with Valens' brand new President Jeff Fallows about his new role with the company and why he decided to work with Valens.
Fallows also talked about the challenges facing the industry and how Valens has a plan to continue its impressive growth in Canada and around the world.
WATCH: Valens GroWorks' new President has big plans to move the company forward
Inc () (NYSE:APHA) shares were on the rise Friday after the firm announced it had inked a deal with PAX Labs, giving it access to the firm's Era vaping device and platform for use with its cannabis extracts.
Shares were up 6.1% at C$9.81 in Toronto, up 7% at US$7.37 in New York.
"As continues to drive the evolution of the industry, we are thrilled to partner with a technology leader like PAX to provide a new avenue for consumers to integrate cannabis into their lives," said interim CEO Irwin Simon. "We are excited to bring our premium cannabis extracts from Solei, RIFF and our flagship medical cannabis brand, , to the PAX Era device and platform."
Duds
Laggards on Friday included Ltd () (OTCMKTS:GLDFF), which dropped 5.1% at C$0.07 in Toronto.
Earlier this week, the firm released news that it will hold a meeting for those who hold debentures issued by Golden Leaf in Nov 2017 at the end of June to consider and potentially approve "an extraordinary resolution to amend the indenture to increase the monetary threshold for permitted asset dispositions to better facilitate the disposition of unprofitable, unproductive, or strategically unnecessary assets," according to a statement released by the firm.
The Canadian company has cultivation, production and retail operations in Canada as well as in Oregon and Nevada.
Other detractors Friday included () (OTCQB:SNNVF), which saw its shares slide steeply on Friday on no news.
However, earlier in the week Sunniva saw an analyst downgrade by Equity research analyst Matt Bottomley, downgraded the company to a hold with a price target that suggests limited upside on the horizon.
Shares were down 6.6% at US$2.42 in New York, down 5.8% at C$3.25.
Contact Katie Lewis at [email protected]