Canada's main stock index rose to a one-year high on Friday, led by financial and energy stocks as strong U.S. jobs data boosted sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 119.99 points to close the day and week at 14,648.77
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.88 cents to 75.94 cents U.S.
Consumer discretionary stocks ruled the roost Friday, as Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers triumphed 43 cents, or 1%, to $43.19.
Among tech stocks, BlackBerry climbed six cents to $10.19, while Open Text Corp. acquired $1.14, or 1.4%, to $81.77.
Industrials had a good time of it, too, as Canadian National Railways zoomed $1.18, or 1.5%, to $81.54, while rival Canadian Pacific
Railways gained $3.25, or 1.7%, to $189.85.
Gold provided one of the few dull spots, as Barrick Gold surrendered $1.15, or 4%, to $27.97, and Kinross Gold trailed off 22 cents, or 3.1%, to $6.95.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that, after three months of little change, employment declined by 31,000, or 0.2%, in July. The unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage point to 6.9%. The Canadian economy was expected to have added 10,000 jobs in July.
Also, the agency reported that Canada's imports increased 0.8% to $45.0 billion in June. Exports were up 0.6% to $41.4 billion. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $3.5 billion in May to a record $3.6 billion in June.
Finally, Western University’s Ivey School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 57 in July, compared to 51.7 in June and 52.9 in July 2015.
The survey of purchasing managers asks whether they increased or decreased their buys during the month. Any reading of 50 or better indicates expansion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.73 points to 806.69
All but three of the 13 subgroups were higher, with consumer discretionaries up 1.8%, information technology up 1.5%, and industrials higher 1.4%,
The three laggards were gold, down 2.3%, materials, off 1.1%, and real-estate, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Friday, with the S&P and the NASDAQ posting their strongest close ever, after a stronger-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 156.59 points to 18,508.64, and posted a gain for the week. Merck contributed the most gains on the Dow, followed byGoldman Sachs.
The S&P 500 gained 17.32 points to 2,181.57, with financials rising nearly 2%. The benchmark index broke above its previous all-time intraday high of 2,178.29 in mid-morning trade.
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 56.68 points, or 1.1%, to 5,223,
The U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs in July, well above the expected 180,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 1.59% from Thursday’s 1.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid five cents a barrel to $41.88 U.S.
Gold prices sagged $24.60 to $1,342.80 U.S. an ounce.
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