Equities in Toronto rose on Friday as pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd jumped following a favorable regulator ruling and energy stocks broadly gained with higher oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped 78.56 points to pause for lunch hour at 16,094.24
The Canadian dollar slid 0.10 cents to 77.67 cents U.S.
Kinder Morgan Canada was last up 6.4% at $17.72 after the country's energy regulator ruled it could sidestep some municipal permits for its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Rogers Communications Inc fell 1.4% to $64.34, the heaviest weight on the index, after the cable and telecom company said its chairman would step down at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Edward Rogers, the son of the family-controlled company's founder Ted Rogers.
Among the most influential gainers on the index were diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd, which rose 2.3% to $29.93, and Barrick Gold, which advanced 1% to $17.75.
On the data beat, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts came in at 226,270 units in November, compared to 216,642 units in October. Experts had pegged housing starts at 215,000 units in November.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.26 points to open Friday at 791.88
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with health-care happier by 3.5%, while energy and industrials were each 0.9% to the good.
The lone laggard was in telecoms, down 0.5%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities traded higher on Friday following the release of a stronger-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones industrials strengthened 84.15 points, to 24,295.63
The S&P 500 picked up 11.97 points to 2,648.90, with health care rising 1%.
The NASDAQ acquired 37.72 points to 6,850.56, as shares of Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet rose.
In corporate news, Alexion Pharmaceuticals shares popped 7% after Leerink Partners said it sees the stock rising 30% in a base outcome from Phase 3 trials for ALXN1210, a drug that aims at treating paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.
The U.S. economy added 228,000 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists expected a gain of 200,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%.
Average hourly earnings — a closely watched component of the report — rose 0.2% for November and 2.5% for the year. Economists expected a monthly increase of 0.3% or 2.7% for the year.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sank, raising yields to 2.38% from Thursday’s 2.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added 90 cents a barrel to $57.59 U.S.
Gold prices skidded $2.90 to $1,250.20 U.S. an ounce.
