Equities in Canada’s largest centre opened higher on Friday, as signs of potential easing in U.S.-China trade tensions and a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report boosted investor sentiment.
The TSX Composite Index revived 80.16 points to open the week’s last session at 24,875.51.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.29 cents at 72.50 cents U.S.
Beijing on Friday said it was “evaluating” an offer from Washington to hold talks over U.S. President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on China, signaling that trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies were easing.
But China added that Washington needed to show “sincerity” in negotiations and should be prepared to cancel its unilateral tariffs.
Trump’s wavering tariffs have kept investors on the edge over the last few months, as they upended supply chains and forced some companies to pull earnings forecasts.
In corporate news, Magna International missed first-quarter profit estimates and said that it plans to implement cost-cutting measures to cushion the hit from Trump’s tariffs. Magna shares plunged $1.65, or 3.4%, to $46.85.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 4.26 points to 650.41.
Seven of the 12 subgroups were higher in the first hour, with industrials surging 1%, information technology ahead 0.9%, and consumer staples better by 0.8%.
The five laggards were weighed most by utilities, sliding 0.5%, materials, down 0.3%, and gold, off 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks rose on Friday as Wall Street digested a better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report for April, which eased recession fears and put the S&P 500 on pace for its longest winning streak in just over two decades.
The Dow Jones Industrials surged 455.06 points, or 1.1%, to 41,208.02.
The much broader index rose 68.89 points, or 1.2%, to 5,673.03. If the S&P 500 closes higher, that would mark its longest winning streak since November 2004
The NASDAQ Composite soared 225.70 points, or 1.3%, to 17,936.44.
The S&P 500 is on pace to rise 2.3% this week, while the Dow is on track for a 2.5% advance. The NASDAQ is up 2.7% week to date.
Payrolls grew by 177,000 in April, above the 133,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated. That figure is still down sharply from the 228,000 added in March but much better than feared after recession worries grew last month. The unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, in line with expectations.
Investors were already upbeat prior to the strong jobs report after China said that it is evaluating the possibility of starting trade negotiations with the U.S.
Still, Chinese authorities reaffirmed their belief that the U.S. should remove all unilateral tariffs, saying in a statement that “if the U.S. wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs.”
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 4.29% from Thursday’s 4.21%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices sagged $1.31 to $57.93 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold sank $80.40 to $3,252.60 U.S.