Canada's main stock index opened but slightly higher on Friday, boosted by gains in energy companies as crude prices steadied in the midst of U.S.-China trade uncertainty.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 11.64 points to open Friday and the month of February at 15,552.24, following a month of January in which the index soared more than 1,200 points.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 cents higher to 76.32 cents U.S.
Teck Resources said on Thursday it expects fourth-quarter profit to be significantly below market estimates, hurt mainly by "disappointing" business at its energy and Trail operation units.
Teck stumbled 94 cents, or 2.9%, to $31.06.
CIBC cut the rating on Advantage Oil & Gas to neutral from outperform. Advantage shares gained three cents, or 1.5%, to $2.08.
CIBC cut the rating Cenovus Energy to neutral from outperform. Cenovus shares docked seven cents to $10.19.
National Bank of Canada raised price target on Eldorado Gold to $8.00 from $4.75. Eldorado shares – which reigned on Thursday – tried to show it was no fluke by galloping 36 cents, or 7.3%, to $5.28.
The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell back to 53.0 in January from 53.6 in December. Although still above the crucial 50.0 no-change threshold, the latest reading pointed to the weakest improvement in overall business conditions since December 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.22 points to 624.94
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower, as gold and materials each slipped 0.4%, while consumer staples lost 0.3%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, up 1.9%, while information technology picked up 0.6%, and energy improved 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Blue chips in New York rose on Friday, the first day of February, after the U.S. government released jobs growth data that easily beat expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrials muscled up 169.62 points to 25,169.29, with Merck and Exxon Mobil leading the gains.
The S&P 500 added 9.31 points to 2,713.41. Losses in the consumer discretionary sector capped gains in the broader index.
The NASDAQ Composite continued to rise, 11.64 points this hour, to 7,293.38. A decline in Amazon kept NASDAQ gains in check.
The moves Friday come after Wall Street posted its biggest January gain since 1987 on Thursday. Strong earnings and an indication from the Federal Reserve that it will pause rate hikes boosted investor confidence. The S&P 500 ended January up more than 7%.
Wall Street also digested key earnings from companies like Amazon, Merck and Exxon Mobil. On Thursday, Amazon reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter. However, the company issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for the first quarter and warned about increasing investments.
These concerns pushed Amazon shares down by 5%.
Merck, meanwhile, posted a better-than-expected profit and revenue, sending its shares up by 3.9%. Exxon Mobil shares rose 3% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.
So far, more than 45% of S&P 500 have reported earnings this season. Of those companies, 68.1% have topped analyst expectations,
The stateside economy added 304,000 jobs in January, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists expected the U.S. economy to have added 170,000 jobs in January.
The report follows a 35-day U.S. government shutdown. It also marks the 100th straight month of jobs growth. Investors had been awaiting the report in search of clues about the state of the economy.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slumped, raising yields to 2.68% from Thursday’s 2.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 50 cents to $54.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $3.60 to $1,321.60 U.S. an ounce.
