Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, boosted by material stocks after gold prices gained, although a fall in energy stocks limited gains.
The TSX stretched higher 148.2 points to move into noon hour EDT Friday at 19,439.18.
The Canadian dollar surged 0.14 cents to 82.40 cents U.S.
Pipeline operator TC Energy regained 11 cents to $61.90, after the company swung to a loss in the first quarter, hit by $2.2-billion impairment charges related to the suspension of its Keystone XL pipeline project.
Tilray jumped $3.16, or 18.4%, to $20.33, after Jefferies upgraded the stock.
OceanaGold rose 34 cents, or 15.6% to $2.49.
Centerra Gold tumbled $3.69, or 30.8%, the most on the TSX, to $8.29, after Kyrgyzstan passed law to take control of Kumtor gold mine.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the economy lost 207,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 8.1%.
This followed cumulative employment gains of 562,000 over the previous two months.
Western University’s IVEY School of Business came out later this morning with its Purchasing Managers’ Index for April. The index tumbled to 60.6 in April, lurching below the 72.9 reading in March, but still well above the 22.8 figure for April 2020.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 8.32 points to 952.09.
All 12 subgroups remained in the plus category midday, led by health-care, surging 6.3%, while materials and consumer discretionary stocks each improved 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 rose to a new high on Friday even after a disappointing April jobs report as the weak number made investors believe easy monetary policies that powered the market’s historic rebound will stay in place for longer.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 158.49 points to register another intraday record of 34,707.02. The Dow is on track to break a two-week losing streak.
The broader index popped 30.69 points to 4,232.21.
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 162.96 points, or 1.2%, to 13,796.18.
For the week, the Dow is up more than 2%, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%. The NASDAQ had shed 1.5% so far this week.
The U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payrolls increased by just 266,000 in April, far less than the one million total economists were expecting, according to Dow Jones.
The unemployment rate rose to 6.1% last month amid an escalating shortage of available workers, higher than an expectation of 5.8%.
Meanwhile, March’s originally estimated total of 916,000 was revised down to 770,000.
Investors bet that the big jobs miss could keep the easy policies of the Federal Reserve in place, including record low interest rates and a massive bond-buying program.
Tech stocks, which have been winning under the low-rates regime during the pandemic, outperformed after the data release. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet, and Apple all traded in the green. Tesla rose nearly 2%. Higher rates tend to hit growth stocks the most since they reduce the value of their future earnings.
Shares of Roku rallied more than 15% after the streaming company blew past expectations with its first-quarter results. Roku posted adjusted earnings of 54 cents per share, compared to an estimated loss of 13 cents per share. Revenue rose 79% from a year ago and exceeded expectations.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys lost earlier gains, raising yields to Thursday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 27 cents to $64.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $17.40 to $1,883.10 U.S. an ounce.
