The Toronto stock market approached midday stronger, as U.S. jobs data blew past expectations.
The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 84.99 points to greet noon at 14,749.06
The Canadian dollar faded 0.14 cents at 91.10 cents U.S.
There was some major dealmaking in the media sector as Torstar Corp., owner of the Toronto Star and other newspapers, said it's selling the Harlequin book publishing company for $455 million to News Corp.
It will be run as a division of HarperCollins Publishers, a subsidiary of News Corp. Torstar has said lower revenues were the primary challenge at Harlequin, well known for its romance novels, as the book publishing company adjusted to the digital environment.
SNC-Lavalin announced Thursday that it is selling AltaLink, Alberta's largest regulated electricity transmission company, to a subsidiary of the holding company run by U.S. financier Warren Buffett for gross proceeds of $3.2 billion.
The deal with Berkshire Hathaway Energy represents what the Montreal-based engineering giant says is "another significant step" in its strategic plan to unlock and create value from its portfolio of infrastructure concession investments.
In earnings news, Gildan Activewear Inc. posted a second-quarter net profit of $79.2 million U.S., or 64 cents per share, compared with $72.3 million, or 59 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2013.
The maker of t-shirts, socks and underwear said net sales were up 4.9% at $548.8 million, compared with $523 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. says it had $108.9 million U.S. of net income in the first quarter of 2014, a big improvement over the $23.9-million profit reported a year earlier. Ex-items, net income was $106.8 million U.S. or 61 cents per share.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 5.39 points to 1,011.91
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon hour, led by gold, shining 2.1% brighter, while materials and industrials each surged 1.3%.
The three laggards were metals and mining, down 0.8%, health-care, sagging 0.3%, and real-estate, inching back 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
It's jobs day in the U.S.A., and investors should have been dancing on their trading desks. Instead, all three stock indices were all hovering around zero in midday trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average faded 9.82 points to pause for lunch at 16,549.05
The S&P 500 remained positive 1.52 points to 1,885.20, and the NASDAQ composite index had gained 9.39 points to 4,136.84.
In corporate news, Linkedin beat revenue estimates Thursday, but shares plunged over 5% as investors worried about slowing growth for the career networking site.
Pharmaceutical chain CVS was up slightly, even though the company's earnings came in short of estimates.
Shares of AstraZeneca were flat after the company rejected an improved bid for the British company from Pfizer worth £50 ($84.47 U.S.) per share, or $106.4 billion U.S. Pfizer shares slipped.
The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that the economy added 288,000 jobs in April, far better than the 205,000 jobs economists had predicted. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% in April, down from 6.7% in March and beating the 6.6% forecast expected by economists.
The dip in the unemployment rate was mostly due to fewer unemployed people entering the workforce. Still, the number of jobs added was impressive by other measures, with the professional services, construction, and food and beverages sectors showing strength.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries chugged ahead, lowering yields to 2.60% from Thursday’s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 18 cents to $99.60 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices strengthened $16.40 to $1,299.80 U.S. an ounce.
