Equity markets in Canada’s biggest centre triumphed Friday to finish off a very successful week, carried largely by resource and tech stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 93.93 points to close Friday and the week at 18,135.90. The index added nearly 800 points on the week, or 4.6%.
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.36 cents to 78.34 cents U.S.
Golds led the pack, with Eldorado Gold surging $1.67, or 11.3%, to $16.42, while New Gold up 13 cents, or 5.9%, to $2.34.
In other resource stocks, Canfor picked up $1.41, or 5.4%, to $27.76, and Interfor popping $1.47, or 5.5%, to $28.00
In the tech world, BlackBerry dominated, gaining $1.40, or 9%, to $17.00, while Docebo sprang $2.08, or 3%, to $71.50.
Consumer staples pointed downward, however, as Alimentation Couche-Tard slid $1.22, or 3%, to $39.74, while North West Company dropped 81 cents, or 2.4%, to $33.30.
In the health-care sector, Aurora Cannabis sank 46 cents, or 2.7%, to $16.34, while Canopy Growth withered $1.43, or 2.5%, to $54.90.
It was a busy day on the macroeconomic scene, with Statistics Canada informing us the economy lost 213,000 jobs during January, thus boosting the unemployment rate to 9.4%. Losses were entirely in part-time work and were concentrated in the Quebec and Ontario retail trade sectors.
At the same time, the nation’s number crunchers reported Canada's merchandise exports rose 1.5% in December, while imports fell 2.3%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $3.6 billion in November to $1.7 billion in December, the lowest deficit since June 2020.
Western University’s IVEY Business School is out with its Purchasing Managers Index for January. The index gained ground to 48.4 from December's 46.7, but was down from the 57.3 figure in January 2020.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will succeed in inoculating its population despite "momentary disruptions" in the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and is working closely with the new U.S. administration to fight the disease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 24.5 points, or 2.5%, to 1,022.64. The index ballooned 100 points, or 10.9% on the week.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive Friday, with gold and materials each mightier by 1.8%, while information technology gained 1%.
The two laggards proved to be consumer staples, off 0.8%, while health-care ailed 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, wrapping up a strong week on Wall Street as investors hoped a disappointing January jobs report would increase the likelihood of further stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 92.38 points to 31,148.24, led by Nike and Cisco.
The S&P 500 strengthened to a record close of 3,886.83 as 10 of the 11 sectors posted gains.
The NASDAQ Composite climbed 78.55 points to 13,856.30, after both S&P and NASDAQ closed at record highs in the previous session.
All three major benchmarks notched their best week since November. The blue-chip Dow gained 3.9% for the week, while the S&P 500 took on 4.7% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ jumped 6%.
Wall Street is in the middle of a solid earnings season. Of the 184 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date, 84.2% topped analyst expectations.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 49,000 jobs in January, slightly below the 50,000 payrolls expected by economists. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, better than projections of 6.7%.
December’s numbers were revised much lower, with the month posting a loss of 227,000 from the initial reading of 140,000 jobs lost.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were lower, raising yields to 1.17% from Thursday’s 1.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gushed 73 cents to $56.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shone $20.20 to $1,811.40 U.S. an ounce.
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