Canada’s main stock index rose at open on Friday, driven by gains in energy and gold stocks as underlying commodity prices gained, while more-than-expected jobs were lost in May due to the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns.
The TSX regained 40.17 to begin the week’s last session at 19,981.56.
The Canadian dollar restocked 0.23 to 82.81 cents U.S.
CIBC raises target price on Precision Drilling to $50.00 from $45.00. Precision shares took on $1.15, or 2.6%, to $46.21
Scotiabank raised the target price on Equitable Group to $157 from $155. Equitable started the trading day at $138.81, or 69 cents less than where it concluded trading Thursday.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported the economy lost 68,000 jobs in May, adding to a decline of 207,000 in April. The unemployment rate was little changed at 8.2%.
Western University’s IVEY School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers Index progressed to 64.7 in May, from 60.6 in April, and towering above the 39.1 reading in May 2020
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.15 points to 972.01
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, with materials ahead 1.6%, gold gaining 1.3%, and energy up 0.6%.
The five laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 0.9%, while financials and staples off 0.3% each.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks climbed on Friday as the key May jobs report showed solid gains, boosting confidence in the economic comeback.
The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 118.19 points at 34,695.23
The S&P 500 was ahead 26.27 points to 4,219.12
The NASDAQ popped 158.77 points, or 1.2% to 13,773.57.
Meme stocks continued their wild prices swings on Thursday, especially AMC Entertainment. The movie theater chain’s stock swung between losses and gains after shedding 18% in the previous session. BlackBerry also traded lower Friday, but shares are still up more than 50% on the week.
The U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said on Friday. The number came in slightly lower than an estimate of 671,000 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones, but still showed a healthy rebound in the labour market as it’s up from a disappointing 266,000 payrolls added in April.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%, which was better than the estimate of 5.9%. Many believe the jobs report, while solid, is not strong enough to trigger the Federal Reserve to dial back its bond buying program.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys hiked, lowering yields to 1.58% from Thursday’s 1.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 46 cents to $69.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices grabbed $20.70 to $1,894 U.S. an ounce.