Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday, led by consumer discretionary and energy shares, rebounding from a selloff in the previous session as markets inch closer to next week’s U.S. election.
The TSX recovered 172.10 points to reach midday Friday at 24,328.97. On the week so far, the index is still behind last week’s close by 130 points, or 0.5%
The Canadian dollar edged forward 0.05 cents to 71.81 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Magna International reported third-quarter profit below analysts’ estimates. Magna shares soared $4.53, or 8.2%, to $59.50.
Air Canada rose $2.10, or 11.1%, to $20.97 after raising its annual core profit forecast and announced share buybacks, benefitting from strong demand for international travel.
On the economic calendar, Markit PMI reported Manufacturing PMI in Canada increased to 51.10 points in October from 50.40 points in September. Manufacturing PMI in Canada averaged 52.33 points from 2011 until 2024, reaching an all-time high of 58.90 points in March 2022 and a record low of 33 points in April 2020.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 5.47 points to 606.09, still behind last week’s close by about 12 points, or more than 2%.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive, with consumer discretionary stocks shooting higher 2%, information technology stronger 1.4%, and health-care up 1.2%
Only two subgroups were negative, utilities losing 0.5% and real-estate, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks climbed Friday to kick off November as Amazon led big technology stocks into the green and traders looked past a disappointing jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 457.45 points, or 1.1%, at 42,220.91.
The S&P 500 index hiked 48.37 points to 5,753.82
The NASDAQ vaulted 212.53 points, or 1.2%, to 18,307.68
The strong start to November comes after a difficult October for the market. The 30-stock Dow pulled back 1.3% in October. The broad market index fell 1% in that time, while the NASDAQ dropped 0.5%.
Amazon rallied more than 7% as strength in the cloud and advertising businesses propelled the ecommerce giant above Wall Street’s earnings expectations. Intel popped nearly 8% after exceeding analysts’ forecasts for revenue and offering strong guidance. The two stocks improved sentiment following some notable earnings disappointments this week.
Meanwhile, the jobs report released on Friday showed the U.S. economy added just 12,000 jobs in October, far below the Dow Jones estimate of 100,000. This marked the weakest level of jobs creation since December 2020. The unemployment rate, held at 4.1%, in line with estimates. However, traders were not reacting too much to the jobs figures, believing the dismal data was impacted by hurricanes and a Boeing strike.
In addition to the U.S. Presidential election on Nov. 5., which has led to elevated volatility, investors are also looking toward the Fed’s two-day policy meeting on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields 4.34% from Thursday’s 4.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired 79 cents to $70.05 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold brightened $4.50 an ounce to $2.753.80 U.S.
