Stock markets the world over rejoiced Friday in the general hope over a possible trade deal between the U.S. and China, and Canada proved no exception, hurtling higher on strong performances from energy and tech shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index scaled 213.87 points, or 1.5%, to close Friday and a short, but turbulent, week at 14,426.62
The Canadian dollar climbed 0.47 cents at 74.66 U.S.
Energy stocks led the parade, with Suncor riding high $1.25, or 3.3%, to $39.32, while Imperial Oil gained 94 cents, or 2.8%, to $35.00.
An entity controlled by Hudson's Bay Chairman Richard Baker will buy the stake owned by a unit of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board in the Canadian retailer, according to L&T B Cayman Inc, a top shareholder in Hudson's Bay and a joint buyer.
Accordingly, the Bay was among the largest percentage gainers on the TSX, as it soared $1.17, or 15.9%, to $8.52, and Canada Goose Holdings, which flew $3.02, or 5.3%, to $59.88.
Tech firms also scored well, as BlackBerry shone 36 cents, or 3.9%, to $9.65, while Shopify triumphed $9.91, or 5.7%, to $184.82.
Iamgold dropped 15 cents, or 2.9%, to $5.11, while Eldorado Gold was down 29 cents, or 6.2%, to $4.37.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has rejected Hydro One's proposed $6.7-billion acquisition of Avista Corp. Hydro One shares faded 14 cents to $20.08.
Fortis Inc. retreated 32 cents to $44.32.
Communications companies were roughed up a mite, but not so Stingray Group, as Desjardins cut the target price on Stingray Group to $9.00 from $11.00. Stingray stock moved ahead 28 cents, or 4.2%, to $6.94.
Rogers shares cleared the breakeven mark by about four cents to $70.04.
On the economic calendar, the number of jobs in Canada held steady during December. Statistics Canada also says the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6%.
What’s more, the agency Industrial Product Price Index decreased 0.8% in November, mainly due to lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
The Raw Materials Price Index fell 11.7%, largely reflecting lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 8.95 points, or 1.6%, to 587.44
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were in the green, as energy chugged ahead 3.1%, while information technology and consumer discretionary each picked up 2.5%.
The lone laggards were gold, down 1.8%, while communications inched back 0.03%, and utilities fell 0.02%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rallied on Friday after two positive pieces of news for the market.
The Dow Jones Industrials Index surged 746.94 points, or 3.3%, as a wild Friday session continued, nearing the end of a wild week, at 23,433.16
The S&P 500 restored 84.05 points, or 3.4%, to 2,531.94, with the tech sector gaining more than 4%.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 275.35 points, or 4.3%, to 6,738.86. This was a rebound from Thursday’s plunge, which was triggered by a massive drop in Apple’s stock.
Friday, the U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 312,000 jobs in December. That blew past an expectation of 176,000 jobs. Later on Friday morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will be patient in raising rates, quelling fears of tighter monetary policy in the near future.
Boeing led the Dow higher after the jobs reported lessened fears that the economy was slowing down. Shares of the plane maker surged 5.2%.
Gains in tech-related names also boosted the broader market. Netflix hiked 9.7%, and Intel rose 6.1%. Netflix rose after Goldman Sachs added the streaming service to its conviction buy list.
The gains in Netflix and Intel also lifted other tech-related stocks. Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google-parent Alphabet all rose more than 4%.
Tech’s move higher took place after the sector fell 5.1% on Thursday, its worst daily performance since Aug. 18, 2011, when it fell 5.4%.
The sharp move lower was triggered by a dire quarterly warning from Apple, which propelled the tech giant’s stock to its worst day in six years and dampened market sentiment across the world.
Apple slashed its fiscal first-quarter revenue guidance earlier this week, citing an unexpected slowdown in China.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 2.66% from Thursday’s 2.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.08 to $48.17 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hesitated $8.30 at $1,286.50 U.S. an ounce.
