Canada's main stock index rose for the fifth straight session on Friday, propelling the big board to highs it hadn’t seen since last summer, as energy stocks gained and a rebound in U.S. jobs growth in March eased slowdown concerns in the world's largest economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index grew 84.54 points to conclude the day and the week at 16,396.15
The index was at its highest since August 31 and was on course for its best weekly gain since mid-January.
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.12 cents at 74.71 cents U.S.
Energy issues sprinted ahead, most notably, Kelt Exploration, which jumped 19 cents, or 3.6%, to $5.47, while Suncor Energy, climbing 70 cents, or 1.6%, to $44.42.
Among health-care stocks, Aurora Cannabis rose 26 cents, or 2.2%, to $12.21, after the company was awarded maximum number of lots in cannabis production tender in Germany.
Rival Canopy Growth took on 37 cents to $58.09.
Among tech issues, Shopify headed skyward $3.04, or 1.2%, to $263.29, while BlackBerry inched up four cents to $12.59.
Real-estate was most put-upon of the few losing groups, as Colliers International Group surrendered 64 cents to $89.81, while Brookfield Asset Management lost 23 cents to $63.17.
In communications, Rogers ducked 33 cents lower to $71.77, while Corus Entertainment made it into the green by 36 cents, or 5.6%, to $6.80.
Among materials, Agnico Eagle Mines dived 22 cents to $58.13.
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 recovered 3.63 points to 629.82
Eight of the 12 Toronto subgroups flourished, with energy gushing 2.6%, health-care haler by 1.2%, and information technology stocks up 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by real-estate, down 0.2%, communications, off 0.1%, and materials, sinking but 0.04%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks posted their second consecutive weekly rise on Friday as investor sentiment was boosted by better-than-expected jobs data and progress on the U.S.-China trade front.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off its highs of the day, but still positive 13.11 points to end Friday at 26,397.74
The S&P 500 gained 13.35 points at 2,892.74
The NASDAQ Composite recovered 46.91 points to 7,938.69
The S&P 500 and Dow both climbed about 2% this week, while the NASDAQ surged 2.7%.
Materials picked up 4.3%, and financials rose 3.3%, to be the best-performing sectors this week. Bank shares led the gains in financials.
Morgan Stanley jumped more than 6% this week, while Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup all ended the week up more than 5%. J.P. Morgan Chase, meanwhile, gained 4%.
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 $1.19 to $63.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $1.70 to $1,296.00 U.S. an ounce.
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