Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Friday, as signs of improving U.S.-China relations and higher oil prices boosted confidence.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shot higher 110.97 points, to open the week’s last session at 14,944.66.
The Canadian dollar inched higher 0.07 cents to 71.69 cents U.S.
CIBC raised the target price on Cargojet to $150.00 from $140.00. Cargojet shares boomed $2.19, or 1.6%, to $137.98.
TD Securities raised the target price on Kinaxis to $190.00 from $165.00. Kinaxis shares retreated 54 cents to $167.14.
National Bank of Canada resumes coverage on Silvercrest Metals with an outperform rating. Silvercrest shares gained 17 cents, or 3%, to $5.84.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said the economy lost two million jobs during April, bringing the total employment decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 economic shutdown to over three million, and the unemployment rate up 5.2 percentage points to 13%.
StatsCan also said the total value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities decreased 13.1% to $7.4 billion in March, with declines reported in seven provinces and two territories. The $1.1-billion national decrease was the largest since August 2014.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported housing starts were 199,589 units in April 2020, down from 204,899 units in March 2020. Excluding Québec, the trend was 155,995 units in April 2020, up from 153,463 units in March 2020.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.73 points to 490.95.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, with energy gushing 2.2%, consumer discretionary stocks bustling 1.9%, and real-estate ahead 1.5%.
The two laggards were health-care, down 0.8%, information technology, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose Friday even after the ugliest monthly jobs report ever as investors bet the worst of the coronavirus and its impact on the economy has passed.
The Dow Jones Industrials raced higher 337.46 points, or 1.4%, to 24,213.15.
The S&P 500 advanced 34.63 points, or 1.2%, to 2,916.20.
The NASDAQ traded higher 100.83, or 1.4%, to 9,080.49. The major averages were headed for their first weekly gains in three.
The NASDAQ is more than 35% off its lows and is now up 0.8% for 2020. Gains from Facebook, Amazon Alphabet and Apple helped lift the index back into positive territory for 2020. At one point, the tech-heavy index was down more than 25% year to date.
The U.S. Labor Department said a record 20.5 million jobs were lost last month, adding the unemployment rate jumped to 14.7% from just 4.4%. Both the spike in job losses and the unemployment-rate surge are post-World War II records.
To be sure, neither print was as bad as feared. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a loss of 21.5 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 16%.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were slightly lower, raising yields to 0.65% from Thursday’s 0.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.19 to $24.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $1.80 to $1,724.00 U.S. an ounce.
