Equities in Canada’s biggest centre enjoyed positive readings to end the week, minimizing the first weekly loss in a month, as gold producers jumped after the U.S. added the fewest jobs in seven months and Canada unexpectedly lost jobs due to cutbacks linked to the struggling energy industry.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shot ahead 69.46 points to finish the day and the week at 13,701.47, reducing its weekly loss to 1.8%
The Canadian dollar was negative 0.36 cents to 77.44 cents U.S.
Gold producers had a good day of it. Barrick Gold picking up 83 cents, or 3.6%, to $23.83, while Kinross Gold rallied 38 cents, or 5.6%, to $7.21, to lead raw-materials producers higher.
Health-care issues were roughed up, most notably, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, sliding $5.91, or 13.3%, to $38.58.
Suncor Energy, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Husky Energy are among companies that shut plants or reduced production due to the wildfires in Alberta.
Suncor shares surged 68 cents, or 2.1%, to $33.84, while Husky shares docked nine cents to $15.21.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy lost 2,100 jobs in April, leaving the unemployment rate at 7.1%.
Moreover, Western University`s IVEY Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 53.1 for April, down from 50.1 in March and 58.2 for March 2015.
The survey of purchasing managers asks if their buys increased, decreased, or remained static during the month, and any figure above 50 indicates an expansion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange triumphed 11.84 points, or 1.8%, to 668.97
All but two of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher Friday, with gold surging 4.4%, materials better 3.1%, and metals and mining up 2.6%.
The two laggards were health-care, ailing 2.6%, while consumer staples skidded 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks in the world’s largest economy closed higher Friday, amid gains in oil prices, after the headline figure in the April employment report missed expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained its footing and strengthened 79.92 points to 17,740.63, with Merck leading decliners and IBM the top advancer.
The S&P 500 recovered 3.68 points to 2,054.31, thus moving higher for the year so far after briefly erasing gains for 2016, with materials leading most sectors higher and utilities lagging.
Both the Dow and S&P traded within 4% of their 52-week intraday highs.
The NASDAQ Composite Index moved upward 19.06 points to end the week at 4,736.16, helped by gains in Amazon.com and Facebook.
Earlier, the index briefly traded more than 10% below its all-time intraday high set last July. The index was about 5% below a recent high touched in April.
Apple temporarily declined more than 1%, falling below its Aug. 24 intraday low to hit a fresh 52-week intraday low, going back to June 2014.
Data released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department showed creation of 160,000 jobs stateside, well below expectations of more than 200,000 jobs.
Unemployment came in at 5%, as expected, while average hourly wages for the month rose 0.3%, also in-line with expectations. The labour force participation rate fell to 62.8%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 1.78% from Thursday’s 1.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gained 28 cents a barrel to $44.60 U.S.
Gold prices regained $11.16 to $1,288.90 U.S. an ounce.
