People attend the NYC Startup Job Fair in New York, in this April 11, 2014 file photo. U.S. employers stepped up hiring in September and the jobless rate fell to a six-year low, which could bolster bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in mid-2015 or even earlier.CARLO ALLEGRI/Reuters
The Toronto stock market advanced Monday as a solid U.S. jobs report released at the end of last week continued to encourage buyers.
The S&P/TSX composite index was 53.12 points higher to 14,842.90 amid major corporate moves.
Quebecor is selling Sun Media Corp.'s English-language operations to Postmedia Network Canada Corp. for $316-million. The deal includes 175 newspapers and publications, including the Sun chain of daily newspapers. Quebecor shares rose 13 cents to $28.77 while Postmedia shares were halted on the Toronto exchange.
And in the tech sector, Hewlett-Packard is splitting itself into two companies. One will focus on its personal computer and printer business and another on technology services, such as data storage, servers and software. HP shares were up 4.2 per cent to $36.68 (U.S.) in New York.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.33 of a cent to 89.15 cents (U.S.) as the greenback weakened.
U.S. markets were also positive while investors look to the start this week of a flood of third-quarter earnings reports in the U.S., including resource giant Alcoa and food companies PepsiCo and Yum Brands.
The Dow Jones industrials gained 86.83 points to 17,096.52, the Nasdaq rose 18.05 points to 4,493.68 and the S&P 500 index was up 9.43 points to 1,977.43.
The employment data showed employers added 248,000 jobs in September, beating market expectations. It supported the view that the U.S. is the major support of the global economy with conditions weakening in Asia and particularly Europe.
On Monday, traders took in more data underscoring the weakness in Europe as German factory orders dropped 5.7 per cent in August from the previous month.
Commodity prices were mixed and the TSX base metals component led advancers, up 1.15 per cent while December copper was three cents higher to $3.03 (U.S.) a pound.
Financials also lent support, up 0.6 per cent.
The gold sector gained 0.5 per cent as December gold gained $5.10 to $1,198 an ounce.
The energy sector was ahead 0.45 per cent with November crude in New York down 13 cents to $89.61 a barrel.
The TSX fell 1.6 per cent last week – leaving the main index up 8.7 per cent year-to-date – led by weakness in the resource sector which mirrored severe losses in commodities.
Analysts laid much of the blame at a U.S. dollar that has strengthened considerably over the last few weeks amid heightened speculation that the Federal Reserve could move to hike rate sooner than expected.
But a major reason for the stronger greenback has been a euro which has weakened against a backdrop of practically non-existent inflation, weak economic data and a vow from the European Central Bank to take action to get the euro zone out of a deep funk, including driving interest rates to near zero.
In other corporate developments, Air Canada flights had fewer empty seats last month as the airline reported a load factor of 84.7 per cent for September, up from 83.2 per cent a year ago. Air Canada also said it has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing its pilots for a new 10-year contract and its shares ran ahead 36 cents to $8.23 (Canadian).