Canadian stocks opened higher on Friday, as both domestic and U.S. jobs data showing faster-than-expected growth in November.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 24.92 points to open at 12,176.05
The Canadian dollar was up 0.24 cents to 101.12 cents U.S.
Enbridge Inc. on Thursday proposed a $6.2-billion expansion of its oil pipeline system, aimed at moving surging volumes of light crude from Western Canada and the North Dakota Bakken to refineries in the eastern part of the continent and U.S. Midwest. Enbridge shares began the day 65 cents higher at $40.64.
Harry Winston Diamond Corp. posted a profit as it sold more smaller-size diamonds but cut its full-year diamond production target as it defers the reprocessing of rejects to focus on higher-value carats. Winston stock plummeted 33 cents to $13.94.
WiLan Inc., the patent licensing company filed patent lawsuits against Apple Inc, HTC Corp and Sierra Wireless Inc's U.S. unit. Shares in WiLan inched up three cents to $4.94.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported this morning that employment rose in this country by 59,000 in November, the result of an increase in full-time work. The unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage points to 7.2%, after being fairly static in October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 0.40 points to 1,186.30
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups began the day higher, led by gold, up 0.9%, materials, advancing 0.7%, and global base metals, gaining 0.5%.
The four laggards were weighed by telecoms and information technology stocks, each off 0.2%, and the metals and mining, down 0.1%. Health-care stocks were unchanged soon after the opening bell.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors got a dose of good news Friday morning: The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in November, and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in four years.
The Dow Jones Industrials began the day up 53.52 points to 13,127.60
The S&P 500 moved higher 2.40 points to 1,416.34, while the Nasdaq Composite Index doffed 1.18 points to 2,988.08
On the corporate front, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for posting information about the company on his Facebook page that he hadn't disclosed to the SEC. Shares were up almost 3% in early trading.
Shares of Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. rose after the gun maker reported strong quarterly earnings results and boosted its full-year outlook.
U.S. stocks opened higher after the U.S. Labor Department reported employers added 146,000 jobs in November, much better than the 77,000 jobs economists had predicted.
Later Friday, investors will get a look at how consumers are spending, an important indicator of economic health since it accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation's economy, with reports out on consumer sentiment and consumer credit.
Treasury prices drooped, thus raising yields on the 10-year note to 1.62% from Thursday’s 1.58%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regrouped 33 cents to $86.59 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained four dollars an ounce to $1,705.80 U.S.
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