Deal-making, earnings news and U.S. jobs data that blew past expectations combined to push the Toronto stock market higher Friday.
The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 101.08 points to end the day and week at 14,765.15
The Canadian dollar faded 0.16 cents at 91.07 cents U.S.
There was some major deal-making in the media sector as Torstar Corp., owner of the Toronto Star and other newspapers, said it was selling the Harlequin book publishing company for $455 million to News Corp.
The company, best known for its romance novels, will be run as a division of News Corp. subsidiary HarperCollins Publishers. Torstar shares jumped $1.37, or 20.5%, to $8.05.
SNC-Lavalin shares ran ahead $2.53, or 5.1%, to $52.15 as the engineering giant said that it is selling AltaLink, Alberta's largest regulated electricity transmission company, to a subsidiary of the holding company run by U.S. financier Warren Buffett for gross proceeds of $3.2 billion.
In earnings news, Westport Innovations Inc., a maker of advanced natural gas engines and systems, says its quarterly net loss fell to $23.9 million U.S. or 38 cents per share from $31.8 million U.S. or 57 cents per share a year ago. Revenue grew 39% to $41.9 million U.S. and its shares jumped $3.47, or 24.5%, to $17.66.
TransCanada Corp. shares slipped six cents to $51.12 as the company behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project said it earned $412 million or 58 cents a share in its latest quarter as revenue grew nearly 30% to $2.88 billion.
Ex-items, TransCanada said its comparable earnings for the quarter came in a $422 million or 60 cents per share, up from $370 million or 52 cents per share a year ago.
The gold sector climbed as growing tensions in the Ukraine crisis sent June bullion higher. Barrick Gold shares took on 34 cents to $19.11
The energy sector rose as Suncor gathered 62 cents to $43.15.
The base metals component was down while July copper was up five cents to $3.07 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources backed off 15 cents to $25.38.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 7.90 points to 1,014.42
All but two of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive on the day, with gold gleaming 2.2%, materials climbing 1.6%, and industrials mightier by 1.2%,
The two laggards proved to be health-care, off 0.5%, and metals and mining, down 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
A strong jobs report proved not nearly enough to light a fire under investors Friday. As a result, indexes all ended negative or flat.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average faded 45.98 points to close out at 16,512.89
The S&P 500 dipped 2.54 points to 1,881.14, and the NASDAQ composite index stumbled 3.55 points to 4,123.90.
Even so, the major indexes were on track to end the week up around 1%.
In corporate news, Linkedin beat revenue estimates Thursday, but shares plunged 7% as investors worried about slowing growth for the career networking site.
Shares of Wynn Resorts surged 6% after the company received a series of analyst upgrades following its earnings report Thursday that showed an increase in first-quarter profit, driven by growth in the Chinese gambling mecca of Macau.
Expedia reported slightly better than expected first quarter results Thursday, but the company's guidance outlook wasn't good enough for some investors, as shares dropped Friday.
Retail drugstore chain CVS bounced, even though the company's earnings came in short of estimates.
Shares of AstraZeneca closed flat in London after the company rejected an improved bid for the British company from Pfizer worth £50 ($84.47 U.S.) per share, or $106.4 billion U.S. Pfizer shares slipped in New York trading.
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 chugged ahead, lowering yields to 2.59% from Thursday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 34 cents to $99.76 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices strengthened $14.20 to $1,297.60 U.S. an ounce.
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