Canada’s resources-heavy main stock index rose for the first time in three sessions on Friday as commodity prices soared against a weaker dollar, while Yamana Gold surged on receiving a takeover bid.
At 10:36 a.m. ET (1436 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 309.04 points, or 1.61%, at 19,550.26.
As the U.S. dollar sank following U.S. jobs data that supported the possibility of smaller interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, commodity prices jumped.
Canada’s materials sector, which includes precious and base metal miners, led gains, jumping 5.7% while the energy sector climbed 1.8% as crude prices soared.
On the week, the Canadian stocks benchmark was seen gaining around 0.3% in its third straight week in the black.
Yamana Gold took the top spot on the TSX, up 16.5% after it received an unsolicited near $5 billion takeover offer from Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd and Pan American Silver Corp.
Meanwhile, data showed the Canadian economy gained a net 108,300 jobs in October, ten times higher that forecasts, while the jobless rate held steady at 5.2%.
This bolstered bets of another outsized interest rate from Bank of Canada in December, with a nearly 70% chance of another 50-basis-point increase.
“The jobs data will be the last to crack, and when they do, it’s going to be tough to start to recuperate these jobs,” said Allan Small, senior investment adviser at the Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth.
“It’s always been my fear that the Fed does too much and the Bank of Canada does too much and then they’re going to spend months later on trying to figure out how to stimulate.”
Enbridge Inc gained 2.0% after it sanctioned an expansion of the southern segment of its British Columbia pipeline system.
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