Stocks started Friday stronger in Toronto, as investors’ eyes popped the U.S. monthly job numbers.
The S&P/TSX composite index began Friday ahead 50.47 points to 14,714.54
The Canadian dollar faded 0.19 cents at 91.05 cents U.S.
Torstar Corp said it would sell romance novel business Harlequin Enterprises Ltd to News Corp for $455 million U.S. Torstar shares jumped 81 cents, or 12.1%, in the first hour, to $7.49.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc's energy unit said it would buy AltaLink, Alberta's largest electricity transmission company, from SNC-Lavalin Group Inc for about $2.9 billion U.S. in cash. SNC shares gained $3.48, or 7%, to $53.10.
Fairfax Financial Holdings, the property and casualty insurer run by investment guru Prem Watsa, said first-quarter profit more than quadrupled due to strong investment gains and improved underwriting results. Fairfax shares triumphed $3.50 to $485.00.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 6.12 points to 1,012.64
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher early Friday. Industrials churned ahead 1.4%, energy gained 0.6%, and consumer discretionary issues hiked 0.5%.
The two laggards were metals and mining, down 0.8%, and health-care, slipping 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
It's jobs day in the states, and investors loved what they saw.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average grew 52.69 points to begin Friday at 16,611.56
The S&P 500 recovered 7.24 points to 1,890.92, and the NASDAQ composite index started positive 14.05 points to 4,141.50.
In corporate news, Linkedin beat revenue estimates Thursday, but shares dipped as investors worried about slowing growth for the career networking site.
Retail drugstore chain CVS declined as the company's earnings came in short of estimates.
Shares of AstraZeneca were modestly higher after the company rejected an improved bid for the British company from Pfizer worth £50 ($84.47) per share, or $106.4 billion U.S. Pfizer shares also slipped.
The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that the economy added 288,000 jobs in April, far better than the 205,000 jobs economists had predicted. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% in April, down from 6.7% in March and beating the 6.6% forecast expected by economists.
The dip in the unemployment rate was mostly due to fewer unemployed people entering the workforce. Still, the number of jobs added was impressive by other measures, with the professional services, construction, and food and beverages sectors showing strength.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries dipped, raising yields to 2.65% from Thursday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices crept ahead five cents to $99.47 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank one dollar to $1,282.40 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
