Equities throughout North America took positive vibes Friday from how French voters may mark their ballots this weekend, as well as from positive jobs numbers in both Canada and the U.S.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped 185.34 points, or 1.2%, to close the day and the week at 15,582.04
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.52 cents at 73.25 cents U.S.
The most influential movers on the index included Tourmaline Oil, which added $1.63, or 6.3%, to $27.69 after the energy company reported strong quarterly earnings on Thursday.
Suncor Energy ticked up 86 cents, or 2.1%, to $42.61, while TransCanada Corp, which reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, rose $1.34, or 2.1%, to $63.99. Encana Corp added 65 cents, or 4.5%, to $14.97.
Gold stocks climbed as Kinross Gold brightened 23 cents, or 4.7%, to $5.17, and IAMGOLD took on 20 cents, or 4.1%, to $5.14.
Miners like Teck Resources gained 35 cents, or 1.4%, to $25.30, while Agnico Eagle Mines soared $1.34, or 2.2%, to $63.75.
Financials gained as Home Capital Group, Canada's biggest non-bank mortgage lender, moved lower 16 cents, or 2.7%, to $5.85 after it announced that Alan Hibbens would replace co-founder Gerald Soloway on its board.
Soloway had been accused by regulators of making "materially misleading statements" to investors, and on Thursday its shares slumped more than 12% on a regulatory hearing to investigate the matter.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported Friday morning that employment was little changed in April, while the unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage points to 6.5%, the lowest rate since October 2008.
The agency attributed the decrease mostly to fewer young people searching for work.
Western University’s IVEY School of Business came out with another positive Purchasing Managers Index for April. The index jumped last month to 62.4, compared to 61.1 in March and 53.1 in April 2016.
The survey of purchasing managers asks them if their purchases increased, decreased or stayed the same during the month. Any reading over 50 signals expansion; below 50, contraction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 7.65 points, or 1%, to 781.72
All 12 TSX subgroups were positive on the day, as energy vaulted 2.8%, gold rushed up 1.7%, and materials were 1.3% stronger.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ composite indexes closed at record levels on Friday as investors looked ahead to a key European election.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average strode 55.47 points higher to end the week at 21,006.94, with IBM leading decliners and Boeing outperforming.
The S&P 500 gained 9.77 to 2,399.29, with materials leading eight sectors lower and financials lagging.
The NASDAQ gained 25.42 points to 6,100.76, yet another all-time high.
The Dow, S&P and NASDAQ also posted slight weekly gains and traded in a narrow range for most of the week.
IBM shares fell more than 2% on Friday and contributed the most losses on the Dow after Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO
Warren Buffett sold a third of his IBM stake, or 81 million shares.
Companies reporting earnings Friday included E.W. Scripps Company, Louisiana-Pacific and VWR Corporation
French citizens will elect a new president on Sunday. Centrist Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to defeat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron, contrary to Le Pen, is a staunch supporter of keeping France in the European Union.
Back home, the U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%. Economists expected jobs growth of 185,000 and for the unemployment rate to hit 4.5%.
Average hourly wages, meanwhile, rose 0.3%.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note recovered, lowering yields back to Thursday’s 2.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gathered 83 cents at $46.35 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $1.40 at $1,230.00 U.S. an ounce.
