Stocks in Toronto rose as gold issues rallied, while energy stocks also gained after oil turned higher.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shot ahead 101.04 points to greet noon at 13,733.05
The Canadian dollar was negative 0.38 cents to 77.43 cents U.S.
Still, the index looks to fall 1.6% for the week after touching a six-month high last Friday at 13,972.62.
The most influential movers on the index included Barrick Gold, which rose 5% to $24.16, and Goldcorp, which advanced 4% to $25.06.
Suncor Energy, which cut production this week due to a major wildfire in Canada's oil sands region, snapped a five-day losing run. Its shares rose 2.2% to $33.88, while the overall energy group rose 1.5% as oil prices turned higher.
Shares of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc rose 4.7% to $47.83. The engineering and construction company reported on Thursday a higher-than-expected profit for the first quarter as cost cuts helped margins amid lower spending by customers in its core energy business.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International fell 8% to $40.92. The company said on Thursday it has formed a new committee to oversee pricing of its drugs.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy lost 2,100 jobs in April, leaving the unemployment rate at 7.1%.
Moreover, Western University`s IVEY Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 53.1 for April, down from 50.1 in March and 58.2 for March 2015.
The survey of purchasing managers asks if their buys increased, decreased, or remained static during the month, and any figure above 50 indicates an expansion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 9.2 points to 666.33
Nine of the 13 TSX subgroups were higher midday, with gold surging 4.9%, metals and mining better by 4.2%, and materials up 3.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, ailing 2.6%, while consumer staples and utilities each skidded 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded mostly lower by noon ET Friday after the headline figure in the April non-arm payrolls report missed expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrials sank 14.08 points to 17,646.63, with Merck leading decliners and IBM the top advancer.
The S&P 500 dropped 6.76 points to 2,043.87. The index struggled to hold year-to-date gains, with health-care and utilities the greatest laggards.
The NASDAQ Composite Index slipped 25.32 points to 4,691.77, and, with that, more than 10% below its all-time intraday high set last July. The index was about 5% below a recent high touched in April. Apple traded more than 1% lower
Data released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department showed creation of 160,000 jobs stateside, well below expectations of more than 200,000 jobs.
Unemployment came in at 5%, as expected, while average hourly wages for the month rose 0.3%, also in-line with expectations. The labour force participation rate fell to 62.8%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 1.75% from Thursday’s 1.74%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gained 88 cents a barrel to $45.20 U.S.
Gold prices regained $15.58 to $1,293.32 U.S. an ounce.
