Stock markets all over North America were sharply higher Friday afternoon as a stronger than expected U.S. employment report trumped worries that the Federal Reserve might start to cut back on stimulus sooner than thought.
The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 80.32 points to end the day and the week at 13,280.72
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 93.88 cents U.S.
The financial sector advanced, as traders also took in the final earnings report from the big banks. Scotiabank posted quarterly net income of $1.7 billion, up 12% from a year ago.
Scotiabank also says it earned $1.30 per share of net income in the fourth quarter, up from $1.18 a year earlier. Core earnings per share came in at $1.31 a share, a penny short of expectations. The shares erased early gains to rise 66 cents to $63.98.
Other bank stocks turned higher after registering losses during the week as traders absorbed a mixed bag of earnings from a sector that had soared as high as 22% year to date. Bank of Montreal rose $1.22 to $70.47 and Royal Bank was up 88 cents to $69.05.
The industrials sector climbed and Canadian Pacific Railway improved by $2.92 to $164.26 and Canadian National Railways gained 78 cents to $60.21.
The gold sector was up while Goldcorp climbed 30 cents to $22.44.
March copper gained two cents to $3.25 U.S. and the base metals sector was ahead, as First Quantum Minerals climbed 18 cents to $17.20.
Consumer staples lost, with grocer Loblaw Cos. Ltd. off 85 cents to $43.04.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the Canadian economy created 21,600 new jobs in November – the third consecutive monthly increase - while the unemployment rate held steady at 6.9%, also for the third straight month.
However, the agency says, so far this year, employment growth has averaged only 13,400 per month, compared with an average of 25,400 over the same period in 2012
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.87 points to 916.65
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups gained ground, led by real-estate, 1.4% more solid, industrials, stronger by 1.3%, and financials, 1.1% more lucrative.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by consumer staples, down 0.6%, information technology, off 0.5% and energy, falling 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged nearly 200 points Friday, as investors cheered a better-than expected November jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials skyrocketed 198.69 points, or 1.3%, to end Friday at 16,020.20
The S&P 500 index hiked 20.06 points to 1,805.09. The NASDAQ surged 29.36 points to 4,062.52.
Despite snapping a five-day losing streak, the Dow and S&P 500 weren't able to edge out wins for the week. The blue-chip indexes had gained the previous eight weeks.
And given how much stocks are up so far in 2013, it's still far from certain whether the market will experience a so-called "Santa Claus rally," a trend in which the market rises at the end of the year.
Struggling retail giant J.C. Penney plunged more than 8% after it disclosed Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has an inquiry about its finances.
Shares tumbled 8% Thursday after hedge fund manager Kyle Bass told Bloomberg that his firm no longer owns the stock. J.C. Penney's stock had been rallying lately due to purchases from Bass and other hedge funds.
Shares of Ulta Salon, the cosmetics superstore, tanked 20% after the company posted weaker than expected results and lowered its fourth-quarter outlook.
Big Lots fell more than 12% after its earnings came in below analyst expectations.
Sears Holdings shares dropped almost 4% after the retailer officially said Friday it plans to spin off its Lands' End clothing brand.
Shares of Intel and career networking site Linkedin bounced after receiving upgrades from analysts.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 203,000 jobs in November, higher than the 183,000 estimated by economists. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.0% from 7.3%. It was expected to fall to 7.2%.
For months, investors have been sweating the Federal Reserve, trying to calculate when it will scale back, or taper, its massive $85-billion-U.S.-per-month stimulus program. The Fed has said that improvement in the job market was one of the main things it was looking for before it would start trimming its bond purchases.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were down, raising yields to 2.88% from Thursday’s 2.86%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved ahead 28 cents to $97.66 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices drooped $3.60 to $1,228.30 U.S. an ounce.
