Canada's main stock index made good progress to close the week on Friday, as shares of material companies gained on the back of higher gold prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index hiked 83.55 points to end the day and the week at 16,494.43
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.22 cents to 74.46 cents
Hudbay Minerals Inc rose 26 cents, or 3%, to $8.86 after the company said it had agreed with Waterton Global Resource Management Inc, its second largest shareholder, to elect a slate of 11 board members that includes some of the nominees proposed by both parties.
Among the largest percentage gainers on the TSX was Pretium Resources, which jumped $1.36, or 14.3%, to $10.88, after reporting quarterly profit that topped estimates.
Baytex Energy, which rose 31 cents, or 12.3%, was among the top gainers, after reporting quarterly results, finishing at $2.79.
Suncor soared 92 cents, or 2.2%, to $43.53.
Among industrials, Bombardier climbed eight cents, or 3.6%, to $2.30, while Air Canada took off from the runway, taking on 96 cents, or 2.9%, to $33.53.
One of the few lagging sectors was in consumer staples, which got singed by losses in Metro, off 10 cents to $48.55, while Loblaw Companies lost eight cents to $65.17.
Health-care issues also were in the red, particularly, Bausch Health Companies, down 18 cents to $31.49.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recouped 5.14 points to 606.42
All but two of the 12 Toronto subgroups gained ground, with materials jumping 1.2%, energy better by 1.1%, and industrials acquiring 0.5%.
The two laggards proved to be consumer staples, fading 0.2%, and health-care, off 0.1%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday, rebounding from a two-day loss, as data showed U.S. job creation was stronger than expected in April.
The Dow Jones Industrials triumphed 208.84 points to 26,516.63
The S&P 500 hiked 28.12 points, or nearly 1%, to 2,945.64, posting its biggest gain since April 1.
The NASDAQ Composite index leaped 127.22 points, or 1.6%, to 8,164, to hit a record high. Shares of Amazon got a boost from an investment by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Friday’s rally was led by Amazon, whose stock rose for the first time in five days after Buffett told reporters Thursday that one of his investment managers at Berkshire Hathaway has been buying Amazon. Shares of the e-commerce giant were up 3.2% Friday.
Shares of Tesla jumped nearly 4.5% after the electric car maker said Friday it increased the size of the stock and bond offering announced a day earlier and CEO Elon Musk intends to buy even more equity.
Despite Friday’s gains, Dow still posted a small weekly loss of 0.15% as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments triggered a two-day sell-off earlier in the week. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ finished the week slightly higher.
The U.S. added an astonishing 263,000 new hires in April while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, the lowest since December 1969, according to a report Friday from the U.S. Labor Department.
The non-farm payroll growth far outpaced Wall Street expectations of 190,000 and a 3.8% jobless rate, according to Dow Jones estimates.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 2.53% from Thursday’s 2.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added two cents to $61.83 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $7.50 to $1,279.50 U.S. an ounce.
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