Equities in Toronto were on the move upward Friday morning, helped by an earnings beat and improved forecast from car parts maker
Magna International Inc and as strong U.S. jobs data overshadowed dismal Canadian trade and employment numbers.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 106.03 points to greet noon at 14,634.81
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.93 cents to 75.88 cents U.S.
Magna rose 5.1% to $52.42 after its profit topped expectations and it raises its earnings forecast.
Bombardier Inc fell 1% to $1.97 after reporting a slightly bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.
Canadian National Railway advanced 1.8% to $81.88 and rival Canadian Pacific Railway advanced 2.2% to $190.77.
Barrick Gold slumped 2.2% to $28.47, Goldcorp Inc lost 2.1% to $23.01, and Kinross Gold declined 3% to $6.955.
Sierra Wireless tumbled 15% to $19.05 as a string of analysts cut their price targets on the stock after the company lowered its full-year outlook.
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that, after three months of little change, employment declined by 31,000, or 0.2%, in July. The unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage point to 6.9%. The Canadian economy was expected to have added 10,000 jobs in July.
Also, the agency reported that Canada's imports increased 0.8% to $45.0 billion in June. Exports were up 0.6% to $41.4 billion. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $3.5 billion in May to a record $3.6 billion in June.
Finally, Western University’s Ivey School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 57 in July, compared to 51.7 in June and 52.9 in July 2015.
The survey of purchasing managers asks whether they increased or decreased their buys during the month. Any reading of 50 or better indicates expansion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 6.1 points to 801.32
All but two of the 13 subgroups were higher, with consumer discretionaries up 1.9%, industrials higher by 1.4%, and telecoms ahead 1.3%.
The two laggards were gold, down 1.9%, and materials, off 0.9%
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street cheered the latest jobs report, sending stocks sharply higher on Friday with the S&P 500 hitting new all-time highs.
The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 156.59 points to 18,508.64, turning positive for the week. Merck contributed the lion's share of the gains on the Dow, followed by Goldman Sachs.
The S&P 500 gained 17.32 points to 2,181.57, with financials rising about 1.5%. The benchmark index broke above its previous all-time intraday high of 2,178.29 in mid-morning trade.
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 56.68 points, or 1.1%, to 5,223, above its all-time closing high.
Earnings season began winding down Friday, with Allianz and Novo Nordisk, among others posting results before the bell.
The U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs in July, well above the expected 180,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 1.57% from Thursday’s 1.51%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 35 cents a barrel to $41.58 U.S.
Gold prices sagged $22.50 to $1,344.90 U.S. an ounce.
