Canada's main stock index opened higher on Friday, boosted by technology stocks, after softer employment numbers at home strengthened hopes of a June rate cut by the Bank of Canada while investors also assessed a hot jobs data report in the United States.
The TSX Composite gained 106.16 points to start the week’s last session at 22,157.95.
The Canadian dollar lost 0.5 cents at 73.33 cents U.S.
Laurentian Bank said on Thursday it had agreed to sell the assets under administration of its retail full-service investment broker division. Laurentian shares gained 14 cents to $27.78.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the economy shed 2,200 jobs in March. The unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.1% in March.
The IVEY PMI index skidded to 57.5 in March from 53.9 in February, and was also down from March 2023's reading of 58.2.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 1.38 points to open Friday at 580.26.
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, with gold ahead 1.3%, while consumer staples and information technology vaulted 0.9% each.
Only utilities missed the party, off 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rebounded Friday morning following the index’s worst session in over a year as traders assessed the March jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 112.12 points to 39,709.10.
The S&P 500 gained 30.41 points to 5,177.62.
The NASDAQ hiked 146.84 points to 16,195.29.
Job growth totaled 303,000 in March, which was better than expected, while the unemployment rate came in at 3.8% for the month, as expected. Nonfarm payrolls were expected to increase by 200,000, according to Dow Jones estimates. Wages rose 0.3% for the month and 4.1% from a year ago, both in line with estimates.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, boosting yields to 4.35% from Thursday’s 4.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices reasserted themselves $1.22 to $86.65 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hesitated $10.10 to $2,304.90 U.S. an ounce.
