Stocks in Toronto rose marginally on Friday and were set to record its first weekly gain in four, as energy stocks jumped on higher oil prices, while a surge in employment numbers to pre-pandemic levels signaled a strong economic recovery.
The TSX Composite increased 47.93 points by noon hour EDT Friday to 20,464.14
The Canadian dollar sprinted 0.52 cents to 80.22 cents U.S.
Endeavour Silver climbed 13 cents, or 2.5%, to $5.32, and Birchcliff Energy advanced 24 cents, or 3.7%, to $6.80, to be the largest percentage gainers on the TSX.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada says the economy created 157,000 jobs in September, the fourth consecutive monthly increase. The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 6.9%
Western University’s IVEY School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers Index registered at 70.4 for September, up from 66 in August and 54.3 in September 2020.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday Canada will place unvaccinated federal employees on unpaid leave and require COVID-19 shots for air, train and ship passengers. Trudeau was unveiling one of the world’s strictest vaccine mandate policies.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 3.65 points to 878.15
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided, with energy leaping 1.8%, while financials and consumer discretionary stocks each vaulting 0.6%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1%, while information technology declined 0.9%, and consumer staples faded 0.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed on Friday with the S&P 500 headed for a winning week as optimism about a short-term debt ceiling deal trumped a disappointing jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials inched forward 5.14 points to 34,760.08.
The S&P 500 dipped 2.65 points to 4,379.11
The NASDAQ Composite doffed 55.88 points to 14,598.13.
The major averages are all solidly in the green for the week, with the Dow and S&P 500 up more than 1% since Monday.
Tech stocks led the gains on Friday as the poor payrolls figure eased concerns the Federal Reserve would move rapidly to remove monetary stimulus. Energy stocks also advanced as U.S. oil prices crossed $80 per barrel.
Energy stocks plowed higher on Friday as West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, crossed $80 per barrel on Friday for the first time since November 2014. Exxon Mobil rose 1.6%, Chevron advanced 3% and ConocoPhillips added 3.2%.
Technology names also propped up the market. Streaming giant Netflix rose more than 1% and Facebook added nearly 1%.
There was something for both bears and bulls in Friday’s jobs report, which explains the gyrations in stocks following the release. The headline number was a major disappointment as the economy added just 194,000 jobs in September, well below the the Dow Jones estimate of 500,000, the Labor Department reported.
On the positive side, the unemployment rate itself fell to a much lower point than economists forecast. At 4.8%, that’s the same level seen in late 2016. Plus, August’s jobs report miss was also revised up to 366,000 compared to the initial read of 235,000.
A bleaker labour picture could stall the Federal Reserve, as it prepares to slow its $120 billion-per-month bond-buying program.
Wall Street is also preparing for third-quarter earnings season, which kicks off next week.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys lost ground, raising yields to 1.61% from Thursday’s 1.57%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up $1.44 to $79.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices wallowed $1.10 to $1,758. 10 U.S. an ounce.