Employment data powered stocks higher on both sides of the border Friday morning with traders hoping that the U.S. jobs report for November will shed some light on when the Federal Reserve starts cutting back a key stimulus measure.
The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 82.52 points in the first hour of Friday’s trading to 13,282.92
The Canadian dollar docked 0.06 cents at 93.82 cents U.S.
Traders also took in the final earnings report from the big banks. Scotiabank posted quarterly net income of $1.7 billion, up 12% from a year ago. Scotiabank also says it earned $1.30 per share of net income in the fourth quarter, up from $1.18 a year earlier.
Core earnings per share came in at $1.31 a share, a penny short of expectations. Scotiabank shares added 19 cents to $63.51.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the Canadian economy created 22,000 new jobs in November – the third consecutive monthly increase - while the unemployment rate held steady at 6.9%, also for the third straight month.
However, the agency says, so far this year, employment growth has averaged only 13,400 per month, compared with an average of 25,400 over the same period in 2012
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange restored 3.07 points to 917.85
All but two of the 14 TSX subgroups were higher, led by industrials, up 1.2%, global base metals, up 1.1% , and gold, shining 1% brighter.
The two laggards were consumer staples, off 0.2%, and utilities, down 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
All three major U.S. stock indexes bounced back from four days of losses Friday as investors cheered a better-than expected November jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials zoomed 142.72 points to begin the day at 15,964.20
The S&P 500 index hiked 15.04 points to 1,800.07. The NASDAQ surged 22.68 points to 4,055.84.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 203,000 jobs in November, higher than the 183,000 estimated by economists. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.0% from 7.3%. It was expected to fall to 7.2%.
For months, investors have been sweating the Federal Reserve, trying to calculate when it will scale back, or taper, its massive $85-billion-U.S.-per-month stimulus program. The Fed has said that improvement in the job market was one of the main things it was looking for before it would start trimming its bond purchases.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were unchanged, keeping yields at Thursday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices stepped back three cents to $97.35 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices inched forward 60 cents to $1,232.50 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
