Toronto stock market gains traction on stronger commodities

TORONTO, Ont. – The Toronto stock market clung to gains on Friday near midday with commodity prices stronger while a U.S. jobs report beat expectations.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 157.24 points to 11,663.74 and the TSX Venture Exchange added 9.58 points to 1,183.21.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.68 of a cent to 99.97 cents (U.S.), after briefly touching parity in the morning.

The July labour report came in better than expected, with total U.S. nonfarm payrolls up by 163,000, better than the 100,000 gain that was projected. The unemployment rate rose to 8.3 per cent, up 0.1 per cent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average increased 215.96 points to 13,094.84 and the broader S&P was up 25.37 points to 1,390.37. Nasdaq gained 56.89 points at 2,966.66.

In commodities, the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lifted $3.52 to US$90.65 a barrel.

September copper moved up 0.58 of a cent to US$3.349 a pound while August gold rose $9.90 to $1,600.60 (U.S.) an ounce.

In corporate developments, Telus Corp. (TSX:T) reported second-quarter profits of $328 million, up 1.2 per cent from the same time last year, while earnings per share rose to $1.01 from 99 cents. Revenue at the company increased four per cent to $2.7 billion. Its stock lifted 88 cents to $63.27.

European markets rose slightly on Friday, picking up some of the declines from the prior session, when the European Central Bank failed to deliver on its assurances it would do “whatever it takes” to help the region out of its debt crisis.

In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 2.3 per cent to 5,791, while Germany’s DAX added 3.9 per cent to 6,863. France’s CAC 40 climbed 3.9 per cent to 3,335.

Earlier, Asian indexes closed lower, as traders there caught up with the ECB news. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average finished down 1.1 per cent at 8,555.11, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.2 per cent lower to 19,652.50. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.1 per cent to 4,221.50, and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.1 per cent to 1,848.68. The Shanghai Composite rose 1 per cent to 2,132.80.

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