Canada's main stock index rose at the open for the fifth straight session on Friday as energy stocks gained and a rebound in U.S. jobs growth in March eased worries about a slowdown in the world's largest economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 48.16 points to open the week’s last session at 16,359.77
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.14 cents at 74.69 cents U.S.
Corus Entertainment beat analysts' estimates for quarterly profit on Friday, driven by a jump in television advertising revenue.
Corus shares shot higher 33 cents, or 5.1%, to $6.77.
RBC cut the target price on Canfor Pulp Products to $17.00 from $20.00. Canfor shares eked higher six cents to $14.82.
RBC cut the rating on KP Tissue to "sector perform" from "outperform". KP shares dipped six cents to $8.79.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said employment fell by 7,200 in March, mostly full-time positions in the services sector. Economists had forecast employers would add 6,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate remained at 5.8%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 0.77 points to 626.96
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups were progressing from the opening bell, with energy roaring 1.6% higher, health-care more robust 1.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks up 0.5%.
The four laggards were weighed most by gold, down 0.5%, materials, inching back 0.2%, and utilities, off 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday after a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report assuaged fears that the economy was slowing down, lifting investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average started positive 39.17 points Friday to 26,423.80, led by Goldman Sachs and Nike.
The S&P 500 gained 10.47 points at 2,889.86, as the energy and consumer discretionary sectors outperformed.
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 39.33 points to 7,931.12
Those gains come as investors brace themselves for the upcoming earnings season, which is set to start next week with J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo among the companies set to report.
The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs in March, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a print of 175,000. However, wage growth expanded 3.2%, below an expected gain of 3.4%.
Wall Street was looking forward to this report after the previous jobs data showed growth of just 20,000. That number was revised higher to 33,000 on Friday.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering yields to 2.5% from Thursday’s 2.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 53 cents to $62.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices settled 50 cents to $1,293.80 U.S. an ounce.
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