Friday proved historic for stocks in Toronto, with the country’s main exchange smashing its way past the 20,000-point barrier for the first time ever, mostly on the strength of resource stocks.
The TSX rocketed 87.8 points to end Friday at 20,029.19. On the week, the improvement was 177 points, or 0.9%.
The Canadian dollar restocked 0.15 to 82.72 cents U.S.
Energy led the charge upward Friday, with Vermilion Energy soaring 36 cents, or 3.6%, to $10.46, while Cenovus Energy gained 30 cents, or 2.7%, to $11.42.
In materials, Ero Copper took on $1.26, or 4.8%, to $27.79, while Hudbay Minerals strengthened 35 cents, or 3.9%, to $9.25.
In gold, Oceanagold shone six cents, or 2.4%, brighter, to $2.55, while Seabridge Gold zoomed 49 cents, or 2.2%, to $22.87.
Health-care stocks let the side down somewhat, however, with Organigram Holdings down 23 cents, or 5.8%, to $3.71, while Aurora Cannabis docked 59 cents, or 5.1%, to $11.08.
In consumer staples, Saputo swooned $1.73, or 4.4%, to $37.58, while SunOpta dropped 17 cents, or 1.1%, to $15.62.
In financials, Canaccord Financial Group lost 51 cents, or 3.6%, to $13.63, while ECN Capital dipped six cents to $8.36.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported the economy lost 68,000 jobs in May, adding to a decline of 207,000 in April. The unemployment rate was little changed at 8.2%.
Western University’s IVEY School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers Index progressed to 64.7 in May, from 60.6 in April, and towering above the 39.1 reading in May 2020
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.15 points to 978.01, for a weekly gain of 11.7 points, or 1.2%.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive on the day, with energy rumbling 1.6%, materials ahead 1.5%, and gold gaining 0.9%.
The three laggards were health-care, tumbling 3.1%, consumer staples off 0.2%, and while financials sliding 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks climbed on Friday as the key May jobs report showed solid gains, boosting confidence in the economic comeback.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 179.35 points at 34,756.39
The S&P 500 gathered 37.04 points to 4,229.89.
The NASDAQ jumped screamed higher 199.98 points, or 1.5%, to 13,814.49.
The major averages all registered modest gains for the week. The blue-chip Dow moved up 0.7% and the S&P 500 advanced 0.6% on the week for their second straight positive week. The tech-heavy NASDAQ gained 0.5% this week for its third winning week in a row.
Meme stocks continued their wild prices swings on Friday, but this time to the downside. AMC Entertainment ended the session down 6.7%, but still gained more than 80% this week. BlackBerry fell 12.7% Friday, paring its rally this week to 37%.
The U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said on Friday. The number came in slightly lower than an estimate of 671,000 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones, but still showed a healthy rebound in the labour market as it’s up from a disappointing 266,000 payrolls added in April.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%, which was better than the estimate of 5.9%. Many believe the jobs report, while solid, is not strong enough to trigger the Federal Reserve to dial back its bond buying program.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys hiked, lowering yields to 1.56% from Thursday’s 1.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 57 cents to $69.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices grabbed $20.70 to $1,894.00 U.S. an ounce.
