OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - The Canadian stock market ended just modestly higher on Friday after stocks spent much of the day's session along the flat line, as investors refrained from making big moves despite strong jobs data and optimism about U.S. stimulus.
Materials shares turned in a fine performance. Energy stocks were weak. Financial and healthcare stocks gave up early gains. Information technology stocks ended mixed, while consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks were mostly subdued.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which advanced to 16,611.02 in early trades, ended with a gain of 28.27 points or 0.17% at 16,562.81. The index touched a low of 16,518.43 in late morning trades. The index gained about 2.25% in the week.
Among the most actively traded stocks, Just Energy (JE.TO) soared 14.8%. B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) gained 5.6%, Kinross Gold Corporation (K.TO) advanced 5%, Yamana Gold Inc. (YRI.TO) surged up 4.1%, OceanaGold Corp (OGC.TO) gained nearly 2.5% and Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) ended 2.2% up.
Air Canada (AC.TO) declined 4%. Cenvous Energy (CVE.TO) shed 3.1%, while Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO), Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL.TO) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) lost 2 to 3.1%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) shed about 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
MTY Food Group Inc. (MTY.TO) shares zoomed 15.6% after the company reported third-quarter net income of $22.93 million compared to net income of $22.90 million in the year-ago quarter.
Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO) gained 5.5%, Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO) climbed 5.4% and Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO) gained 5.2%. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Cargojet (CJT.TO) also rose sharply.
On the economic front, Canada added 378,200 jobs in September, substantially more than an expected addition of 156,700 jobs. A month earlier, Canada had added 245,800 jobs.
Full time employment in Canada increased by 334,000 jobs in the month of September after seeing a 205,800 jobs increase a month earlier. Part time employment was up by 44,000 jobs, about 10% higher than the increase seen a month earlier.
The unemployment rate in Canada dropped for the fourth straight month, falling 9% in September from 10.2% in the previous month and well below market expectations of 9.7%. The unemployment rate was at an all-time high of 13.7% in May.
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