The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index jumped more than 100 points on Friday, mirroring Thursday's gain, lifted by soaring shares of Research In Motion (RIM) and better-than-expected jobs data in Canada and the United States. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 108.23 points, or 0.8 percent, at 14,233.34.
RIM, the BlackBerry maker, was the day's star, surging C$11.30, or 11.3 percent, to C$111.60 after it reported good quarterly results and forecast strong numbers. The firm's earnings, released after the market closed on Thursday, topped expectations.
Rim's strength pushed the small TSX information technology sector up 2.9 percent on Friday. The industrials sector added nearly 1 percent and the materials group, which represents about 17 percent of the index, advanced 0.8 percent. The base metals and mining subgoup climbed 3.5 percent, with zinc producer Teck Cominco Ltd up C$1.75, or 3.7 percent, at C$49.61.
Copper and other base metals rose after a positive US employment report quelled worries about easing demand for the commodities. The report showed the US economy added more jobs in September than economists had expected.
"We have had a good corrective phase in nickel and copper," noted Joe Ismail, technical analyst at Maison Placements Canada. "While the prices are softer in US dollar terms, the demand is still there." In Canada, employers hired three times more workers last month than predicted, with the unemployment rate unexpectedly falling to a 33-year low of 5.9 percent.
A majority of Canada's primary securities dealers forecast the Bank of Canada will leave its key interest rate steady at 4.5 percent for the rest of the year. The Canadian dollar surged to its highest level since 1976 on Friday following the jobs data.
"The market is running up on its own momentum ... with a lot of foreign buyers coming into North America at the moment primarily because of currency fluctuations," Ismail said. The heavyweight energy sector, which has declined in two of the last three days, was the lone loser on Friday, down 0.1 percent as US crude oil fell 22 cents to $81.22 a barrel. EnCana dropped 38 Canadian cents, or 0.6 percent, to C$61.51.
The index kicked off October with an up-and-down week, gaining nearly 1 percent in five days. It jumped 1.5 percent in the last two sessions. Market volume was 324 million shares worth C$6 billion. Advancers outpaced decliners 911 to 631. The blue chip S&P/TSX 60 index closed 6.08 points higher, or 0.7 percent, at 825.64.
The US jobs report also lifted Wall Street indexes, with the Dow Jones industrial average surging to an all-time high amid renewed optimism about the economy and corporate profits.