The Toronto stock market was higher Friday amid jobs data in Canada and the U.S. that breezed past expectations.
The S&P/TSX composite index improved 81.99 points to greet noon at 13,376.19
The Canadian dollar shed 0.24 cents at 95.39 cents U.S.
It was a relatively quiet day on the earnings front where Air Canada posted adjusted net income rose of $365 million, an increase of nearly 60% compared with that same time last year. The adjusted earnings amounted to $1.29 per share, which was 26 cents per share above analyst estimates of $1.03 per share.
Under standard accounting, Air Canada had $299 million or $1.05 per share of net income, also above estimates but down from last year. Its shares surged 39 cents or nearly 7% to $5.98 after hitting a fresh, 52-week high of $6.19, highs not seen since before the 2008 recession.
Telus Corp. rose 28 cents to $36.56 as the telecom reported its adjusted profit jumped to $365 million in the third quarter, up 13% from a year earlier. On a per-share basis, Telus had 58 cents per share of adjusted earnings, two cents better than the estimate. Revenue was up 3.6% from last year, rising to $1.87 billion.
Among gold plays, Goldcorp fell 35 cents to $25.16.
The metals and mining sector fell with December copper down one cent to $3.23 U.S. a pound. HudBay Minerals slipped 32 cents to $8.42.
Atlantic Power tumbled 43 cents, or 9.5%, to $4.11.
Financials led advancers as Manulife Financial gained 51 cents to $19.73, a penny short of a new 52-week high of $19.74 registered earlier in the session.
The tech sector was also ahead with BlackBerry shares up 12 cents to $6.89 a day after Fairfax Financial revealed the names of the five other investors in its $1-billion U.S. financing of the smartphone maker. Mackenzie Financial Corp., Canso Investment Counsel Ltd., Markel Corp., Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Qatar Holding LLC have also contributed.
There was also major acquisition activity in the resource sector as Talisman Energy Inc. reached a deal to sell its interests in two B.C. natural gas partnerships for $1.5 billion in cash. The buyer is Progress Energy Corp., a formerly independent Canadian company that's now a subsidiary of Malaysia's state-owned Petronas.
Talisman has said for months that it planned to sell a large chunk of its assets in order to be more efficient and profitable. Its shares ran up 25 cents to $12.47.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the economy added 13,200 jobs in October - all of them full-time - and the unemployment rate stayed at a nearly five-year low of 6.9%
What’s more, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp showed housing starts hiked 198,282 units last month, up from an upwardly revised 195,929 in September and surpassing analysts' expectations for 190,800.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched higher 1.86 points to 932.94
All but two of the 10 TSX subgroups were higher, led by energy, up 1.2%, while financials and information technology each gained 1.1%.
The two laggards were utilities, down 1.3%, and materials, off 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks bounced back Friday thanks to a much better-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials hiked 89.26 points to pause for lunch at 15,683.20
The S&P 500 index hiked 14.45 points to 1,761.60. The NASDAQ took on 53.16 points to 3,910.49
Twitter shares were down nearly 2% on Friday, their second day of trading. Twitter shares closed at $44.90 U.S. on Thursday, a whopping 73% gain from its initial public offering price of $26 U.S. a share.
Shares of the Gap jumped 8% after the apparel retailer reported strong sales for October. That's a sharp contrast with Abercrombie & Fitch, which warned of weak sales earlier this week and shut down its lingerie business.
Groupon shares rose despite disappointing earnings and a weak outlook. The daily deal site announced it was buying Korean site Ticket Monster from its top rival LivingSocial.
Walt Disney reported slightly better-than-expected earnings and sales. The stock rose on the news.
Tesla shares continued to fall Friday after a Model S caught fire after a crash Thursday in Tennessee. It's the third widely-reported fire involving one of the all-electric plug-in luxury cars in just two months. The stock has plunged more than 20% since it reported its latest quarterly results on Tuesday.
The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, according to the U.S. Labor Department. That is higher than the 120,000 estimate of economists Revisions showed an extra 60,000 jobs were created in August and September.
The gains came despite a partial government shutdown in October, which many economists had feared would hurt the economy.
Separately, the Commerce Department said personal income rose 0.5% in September, while spending edged up 0.2%.
The jobs report and other good economic news has revived speculation on when the Federal Reserve will begin scaling back, or tapering, its $85-billion-U.S.-per-month bond buying program. Many market experts believe the Fed's stimulus is a key reason why stocks have surged this year.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising yields to 2.75% from Thursday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved upward 38 cents to $94.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $23.20 to $1,285.30 U.S. an ounce.
