Investors warmed to increased jobs numbers in Canada Friday morning, and sent the stock market into positive territory yet again.
The S&P/TSX composite index took 44.54 points to begin the last session of the week at 15,169.46
The Canadian dollar docked 0.23 cents to 80.17 cents U.S.
Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce have looked at buying U.S. lender Boston Private Bank & Trust Co, the Wall Street Journal reported. Royal shares bolted higher 80 cents, or 1.1%, to $76.19, while CIBC shares took on $1.39, or 1.5%, to $94.27.
CIBC raised the target price on BCE Inc. to $58.00 from $50.00. BCE dumped $1.61, or 2.7%, to $57.36.
CIBC raised the price target on Canfor Pulp Products to $20.00 from $17.50. Canfor Pulp shares climbed 38 cents, or 2.4%, to $16.13.
Lastly, CIBC raised the target price on Firstservice Corp. to $73 from $62.00. First Service shares added eight cents to $68.23.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the job market benefiting from folks doing more part-time work. Employment increased by 35,000 in January, resulting in an unemployment rate declining 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%.
Moreover, the agency said, contractors took out building permits worth $7.1 billion in December, up 7.7% from November. This followed a 13.6% decline the previous month.
StatsCan added the December hike resulted mostly from greater construction plans in non-residential units in Alberta and British Columbia.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange erased 0.39 points to 693.54
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups went north, led by financials, up 1.5%, energy, up 1.3%, and industrials, better by 1%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed by gold, dulling 3.2%, materials, down 1.8%, and telecoms, off 1.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded narrowly mixed after opening slightly higher on Friday, as initial cheer over a strong jobs report turned to concerns of an earlier Fed interest rate hike.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 48.75 points, to open Friday at 17,933.63, following Thursday’s 230-point-plus gain, with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs leading and Intel the greatest blue-chip laggard.
The S&P 500 eked higher 6.56 points to 2,069.08, with financials leading four sectors higher and utilities the greatest laggard.
The NASDAQ index added 12.10 points to 4,777.20.
JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs traded higher about 2%or more to lead blue chip gains.
Friday is a much quieter day for earnings, with Moody's and Madison Square Garden posting earnings that beat expectations. CBOE Holdings missed expectations. Energy company Dominion is due to report after the bell.
Social media stocks Twitter and LinkedIn surged more than 10% on Friday, following strong earnings reports. Yelp fell more than 20% on weak guidance.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy created 257,000 jobs in January, beating estimates of about 230,000. More importantly, average hourly earnings grew by 0.5%, above estimates.
The unemployment rate rose to 5.7%, above estimates.
Thursday's reports showed non-farm productivity fell a greater-than-expected 1.8% for the fourth quarter. Economists had forecast productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, rising at a 0.5% pace.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries stumbled, thus raising yields to 1.90% from Thursday’s 1.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gathered 78 cents per barrel to $51.26 U.S.
Gold prices slid $19.20 an ounce to $1,243.50 U.S.
