The Toronto stock market was higher Friday amid Canadian and U.S. jobs data that breezed past expectations.
The S&P/TSX composite index improved 84.13 points to end the day and week at 13,378.33
The Canadian dollar shed 0.17 cents at 95.45 cents U.S.
On the earnings front, 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. Its shares jumped 40 cents, or 7.2%, to $5.99 after hitting a fresh, 52-week high of $6.19, highs not seen since before the 2008 recession.
Telus Corp. rose 62 cents to $36.90 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.
Financials led advancers as Manulife Financial gained 50 cents to $19.72, a dime short of a new 52-week high of $19.85 registered earlier in the session and Royal Bank improved by 49 cents to $70.31.
The energy sector was ahead while Canadian Natural Resources climbed 42 cents to $33.03.
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 20 cents to $12.42.
The tech sector was also ahead with BlackBerry shares up seven cents to $6.84 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.
Among gold plays, Iamgold gained two cents to $4.83.
The metals and mining sector fell with December copper up a penny at $3.25 U.S. a pound. HudBay Minerals slipped 32 cents to $8.42.
Atlantic Power tumbled 49 cents, or 10.8%, to $4.05.
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 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 gained 6.33 points to 932.94
All but one of the 10 TSX subgroups were higher, led by energy, up 1.4%, information technology picked up 1%, and financials took on 0.9%
Only utilities missed the party, down 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks bounced back Friday thanks to a much better-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials hiked 167.80 points, or 1.1%, to close the week at 15,761.80, another all-time high.
The S&P 500 index hiked 23.46 points to 1,770.61. The NASDAQ strengthened 61.90 points to 3,919.23
The S&P 500 and the Dow both ended higher for a fifth straight week. The NASDAQ, despite Friday's big gains, was still down for the week.
Twitter shares fell 7% 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 nearly 10% 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 19 cents to $94.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skidded $21.20 to $1,287.30 U.S. an ounce.
