Canadian stocks regained their footing Friday with support from mining and tech equities, rallying after surprising U.S. jobs data lifted investor spirits.
The S&P/TSX Composite index hiked 147.84 points, or 1.3%, to close trading at 11,654.34
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.51 cents to 99.78 cents U.S.
Markets in Toronto will be closed Monday for a provincial holiday.
Commodity companies making the greatest headway included Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. tacking on 6.9% to $8.58; Inmet Mining Corp., adding 6.3% to $41.46; and PetroBakken Energy Ltd. up 3.2% to $12.65.
Buoying the technology sector, shares of Open Text Corp., an enterprise software company, rose 4.4% to $48.49, while health science technology company Nordion Inc. added 3.4% to $9.74.
Canadian gold miners advanced, with IAMGOLD Corp. rallying 3.3% to $11.03 and Osisko Mining Corp. climbing 3.6% to $9.00.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 12.02 points to 1,185.65. The Nasdaq Canada index grew 8.29 points to 340.82.
All 14 Toronto subgroups remained ahead all through the session, led by energy issues, ahead 2.3%, global base metals, up 2.2%, and the metals and mining, gaining 1.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied nearly Friday as investors welcomed a stronger-than-expected July jobs report.
The Dow Jones industrial average triumphed 217.29 points, or 1.7%, to close the day and week at 13,096.20
The S&P 500 increased 24.43 points to 1,389.43. The Nasdaq leaped 58.13 points to 2,967.90
The Dow and S&P 500 are both near the highest levels since early May. Traders said the market was poised for a bounce Friday after a selloff on Thursday.
Shares of AIG were halted just before the insurance company announced that it would buy $3 billion U.S. worth of its own stock from the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury said it will offer a total of $4.5 billion U.S. worth of AIG common stock.
AIG, once the world's largest insurance company, was bailed out by the government during the 2008-2009 credit crisis.
LinkedIn shares jumped after the business networking site reported sales that nearly doubled from a year ago, led by a huge increase in revenue for its job posting services.
Facebook jumped on the tech bandwagon. Shares gained in early trading, following six straight days of losses.
Shares of Procter & Gamble rose in early trading after the consumer products company topped earnings expectations. Revenues were in line with expectations.
Kraft said late Thursday that profits rose in the second quarter, adding that it expects continued growth in the remainder of the year.
NYSE Euronext's quarterly results beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue forecasts.
On the economic slate, the U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July, an improvement from an increase of just 64,000 in June, according to a government report. Economists were predicting 95,000 jobs were added last month.
The jobs report surprise is a sign that hiring hasn't completely stalled -- a positive step for the struggling U.S. economy.
The unemployment rate, however, rose for the first time in over a year. The jobless rate ticked up to 8.3%, compared to forecasts for the rate to hold steady at 8.2%.
Elsewhere, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of activity in the services sector increased to 52.6 in July from 52.1in June.
The index was expected to come in at 52.3, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yields sharply upwards to 1.58% from 1.48% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for September delivery spiked $4.10 to $91.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery rose $15.10 to $1,605.80 U.S. an ounce.
