Bay Street was modestly higher Friday afternoon as investors appeared to shrug off news that Canada’s unemployment rate rose above 8% in August.
The S&P TSX Composite Index moved 63.56 points higher to 12,097.09. On the week, however, the index trailed last Friday’s close by 47.83 points or 0.4%.
Among gold issues, shares in Barrick Gold Corp. gained 65 cents to $46.34.
In the oil patch, shares in Suncor added 35 cents to $34.11.
The Toronto telecom sector edged higher after BCE Inc. announced it is buying up the rest of CTV Inc. that it doesn’t already own for $1.3 billion. Shares in BCE gained 12 cents to $32.97, while shares in Torstar Corp. which is selling its 20% share of CTVglobemedia, fell off its highs for the day, but still gained $2.08 or 21% to $12.00.
The metals and mining sector gained strength as the December copper contract fell 3.7 cents at $3.41 U.S. a pound. Shares in HudBay Minerals Inc. gained two cents to $14.96.
The financial sector was up, as shares in CIBC picked up 15 cents to $74.60.
In corporate news, yoga retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. more than doubled its profits in the second quarter to $21.8 million as the company generated a 56% jump in revenues to $152.2 million. Shares in the company soared $4.83 or 13% to $41.89.
Sobey’s grocery store chain owner Empire Company Ltd. said its first-quarter profits slipped 9% to $81.6 million on lower capital gains. Revenue increased by 1.8% to $4.04 billion. Shares in Empire fell $1.58 or 2.9% to $52.27.
And shares in energy company Enbridge Inc. lost 38 cents to $52.50 after an Illinois pipeline was shut down due to a leak. The shutdown comes on the heels of another leak in a Michigan pipeline this summer that caused a major spill.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said unemployment in this country increased one-10th of a point to 8.1% last month, although the economy actually created 35,800 net new jobs.
Economists had expected the percentage of unemployed workers to stay steady at 8%.
The Canadian dollar listed lower by 0.14 cents to 96.60 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
All but one of the 14 TSX subgroups ended higher Friday. Gold led the charge, picking up 1.1%, while health-care stocks improved 0.9% and real-estate stocks were 0.8% to the good.
The TSX Venture Exchange was 14.50 points better, at 1,596.50, while the Nasdaq Canada index eased back 3.95 points to 571.75. The Venture exchange gained 30.54 points on the week or 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, trading was choppy and light Friday, with stocks barely ending the week higher as investors wavered between mildly upbeat data and ongoing fears about a slowing economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 47.53 points to 10,462.77, a gain on the week of 14.84 points or 0.1% for its second straight weekly improvement.
The S&P 500 index grew 5.37 points to 1,109.55. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index moved forward 6.28 points to 2,242.48. On the week, the S&P gained 5.04 points or 0.5%, while the Nasdaq staged a rally of 8.73 points or 0.4%.
All three stock indexes posted gains in the two prior trading sessions, but those were modest compared to losses on Tuesday. The Dow needed to rise above 10,448 to breakeven for the week, and after hovering all day around that level, rallied late Friday to rise slightly higher.
Trading volume was exceptionally light during the shortened holiday week. U.S. stock markets were closed Monday for Labour Day, and trading desks were staffed lightly Thursday and Friday due to Rosh Hashanah.
Shares of Nokia gained more than 2%, after the mobile phone maker named Stephen Elop -- the head of Microsoft's business division -- as its CEO. Elop will begin as president and CEO on Sept. 21, replacing Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.
Pacific Gas & Electric tumbled more than 8% Friday after a gas pipeline in California exploded and erupted into flames. The blast occurred in San Bruno, near San Francisco, after a gas transmission line owned by the company ruptured. The cause of the rupture is still being investigated.
Economically speaking, one government report showed that wholesale inventories rose 1.3% in July, following an upwardly revised 0.3% increase the month before. Investors took the unexpected rise as a sign that wholesalers are confident in the economic recovery.
In a White House press conference, President Obama continued his push for a $350-billion U.S. jobs recovery plan and a small business tax cut currently stalled in Congress.
Treasury prices fell, vaulting the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 2.80% from 2.76% Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil vaulted $2.22 to $76.47 U.S.
Gold prices gained two dollars to $1,247 U.S. an ounce.
