Markets

North American markets closed slightly higher as we close out the week. The Dow extended its weekly winning streak to three, while the TSX was anchored by a sagging gold sector and Apple’s 8% decline singlehandedly pulled the S&P500 lower.

A better than advertised 146,000 increase in US employment got trading started off on the right foot this morning, but that warm and fuzzy feeling was short lived after a subsequent report showed consumer confidence fell sharply.

The Canadian employment report was nothing short of blockbuster with a gain of 59,300 positions last month, about six times more than forecast. The finer details were equally as encouraging as almost all of the gain was in full-time employment with private companies. We also had a decent earnings report from Scotiabank who beat estimates on the back of strong activity in capital markets, a continuing theme we’ve seen across the financial sector.

The Canadian dollar climbed to a one month high after the employment report, up 24 bps to US$1.0114. Bond yields jumped a couple of ticks for the same reason, with the 5-year Canada now yielding 1.29% and the 10-year 1.71%. Gold is up a dollar to US$1703/oz. Oil is flat at US$86.24/barrel.

Have a great weekend.