Equities north of the border hiked on Friday as heavyweight financial and energy stocks gained after U.S. jobs growth accelerated rapidly in June while Canadian job growth stalled and fewer people sought work.
The S&P/TSX Composite climbed 158.8 points, or 1.1% to greet noon at 14,293.26
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.41 cents to 76.5 cents U.S.
The index was on track for a 1.5% gain on the week.
The most influential gainers included Canadian National Railway, which rose 2.1% to $78.39, and its rival Canadian Pacific Ltd, which advanced 2.5% to $173.65.
Railway earnings are linked to the performance of the broader economy, rising as growth boosts demand for raw materials and consumer goods.
Royal Bank of Canada added 1.5% to $77.88, Toronto-Dominion Bank advanced 1.1% to $55.46 and Bank of Nova Scotia rose 1.5% to $63.82.
Insurers also rose, with Manulife Financial up 1.6% to $17.18 and Sun Life Financial 2% higher at $41.58. Brookfield Asset Management gained 2.3% to $44.3.
Crude prices bounced back from two-month lows but benchmark Brent was on course for its largest weekly decline since January as economic worries weigh on oil.
Canada's largest oil and gas producer Suncor Energy gained 1.4% to $36.58, and Canadian Natural Resources advanced 1.3% to $40.055.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that employment was unchanged in June. The agency also says the unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 6.8%, as the number of people searching for work edged down.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 0.41 points to 744.87
All but two of the 13 subgroups were higher by noon, with energy and industrial shares each zooming 1.8%, metals and mining strengthening 1.7%
The two laggards were health-care, down 0.2%, and utilities, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded 1% higher Friday, erasing their post-Brexit losses, after a surprisingly large beat on the June jobs report headline figure.
The Dow Jones Industrials screamed higher 193.64 points, or 1.1%, to 18,089.52, to trade well above the psychologically key 18,000 level.
American Express led advancers and UnitedHealth and Wal-Mart were the only decliners.
The S&P 500 rocketed 24.99, or 1.2%, to 2,122.87, with financials leading all 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ Composite Index leaped 66.51 points, or 1.4%, to 4,943.31
With Friday's intraday gains, the major U.S. indexes were on pace for weekly gains of nearly 1% or more.
The non-farm payrolls report showed the U.S. created 287,000 jobs last month, versus the 175,000 jobs expected by economists. The unemployment rate edged higher to 4.9%, however, versus the 4.8% estimate.
May's payroll count was revised down to only an 11,000-job increase from the previously reported 38,000
Prices for the 10-year Treasury hiked, lowering yields to 1.38% from Thursday’s 1.39%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on 11 cents a barrel to $45.25 U.S.
Gold prices moved lower $7.60 to $1,354.50 U.S. an ounce.
