The Toronto stock market was up slightly Friday, the markets not getting the expected lift from Canadian and U.S. jobs reports that blew past expectations.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved higher 9.09 points Friday to end the week at 12,835.61
The Canadian dollar faded 0.02 cents at 97.14 cents U.S.
The base metals sector gained while May copper was down two cents at $3.50 U.S. a pound. First Quantum Minerals ran up $1.19, or 6.2%, to $20.42.
The TSX gold sector shook off early losses to move up while Iamgold ran ahead 35 cents, or 5.5%, to $6.75.
The energy sector was up slightly, though Canadian Natural Resources fell four cents to $32.06.
The tech sector was lower as shares of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates fell $3.07 to $69.70 after announcing a deal to raise $250 million in an offering of shares.
The industrials sector was also negative as Canadian Pacific Railway shed $1.22 to $129.77
Engineering firm SNC-Lavalin reported it had $94.6 million of net income or 63 cents per share in the fourth quarter with $2.42 billion in revenue. Analysts had estimated 90 cents per share of adjusted earnings and 92 cents per share of net income with $2.17 billion of revenue, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Its shares fell $2.84, or 6.2%, to $43.01.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said employment rose by 51,000 in February, following a slight decline the previous month.
This increase was spread between full- and part-time work. The unemployment rate remained at 7.0% as more people participated in the labour force.
Elsewhere, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said on Friday in a report that showed the housing market is continuing to moderate. CMHC said the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts was 180,719 units in February, up from 158,998 in January. The January figure was revised down from the 160,577 units reported previously.
The number of starts in February was slightly above the 175,000 starts expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 1.62 points Friday to 1,117.85
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by day’s end. Metals and mining spiked 1.6%, materials grew 0.7% and consumer discretionaries tagged on 0.4%.
The four laggards were weighed mostly by information technology shares, off 1%, industrials, down 0.6%, and utilities, sliding 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks had one of their best weeks of the year. With Friday's gains, all three indexes are on track to finish the week up more than 2%.
The Dow added 67.58 points to end Friday at 14,397.10, to yet another all-time record close.
The S&P 500 index eked up 6.92 points to 1,551.18. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite also improved, by 12.18 points, to 3,244.37.
The Dow has closed at record highs for four consecutive days, and the S&P 500 is only about 1% below its all-time high.
All three indexes are already up between 7% and 9% so far this year.
Friday's robust jobs report capped off a string of positive labour reports that have given investors reason to believe that the economy is finally on firmer footing.
In corporate news, online music streaming firm Pandora Media reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and announced that its CEO will be stepping down. Pandora's shares soared.
Athletic shoe retailer Foot Locker reported a significant increase in sales and profit for the fourth quarter. But its stock fell more than 6%.
Citigroup's shares gained more than 2%, after the U.S. Federal Reserve released results from its stress tests. The Fed said Citi was the big bank best prepared to weather another recession.
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs also passed the stress tests, but shares of all three banks fell.
Shares of Skullcandy sank more than 20% after the headphone maker forecast a 30% drop in sales and said it expects to post a loss for the current quarter.
Herbalife shares edged higher after activist investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in the nutritional supplement company.
Economically speaking, ahead of the opening bell, the U.S. government reported that 236,000 jobs were added to the economy in February, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% from 7.9%.
That was much better than the 170,000 and 7.8% expected by economists.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury stumbled, raising yields to 2.06% from Thursday’s 1.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 19 cents to $91.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up $2.90 to $1,578 U.S. an ounce.
