Investors Trumpet Bright New Month
The TSX Composite vaulted 216.58 points, or 1.1%, to end Friday at 20,452.87. On the week, the gain was nearly 350 points, or 1.74%.
The Canadian dollar piled on 0.34 cents at 74.09 cents U.S.
All subgroups climbed, health-care’s gains led by Tilray, up 14 cents, or 5.8%, to $2.56, while Chartwell Retirement Residences picked up 26 cents, or 2.4%, to $11.12.
In communications, Quebecor took on a dollar, or 3.3%, to $31.11, while Cogeco Communications collected $1.60, or 3.1%, to $53.69.
Real-estate stocks included StorageVault Canada, up 20 cents, or 4.3%, to $4.87, while Northwest Health-Care Properties units jumped 15 cents, or 3.4%, to $4.56.
Statistics Canada says the economy created 25,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 5.8%, continuing an upward trend observed since April.
The Markit Manufacturing PMI in Canada decreased to 47.7 points in November from 48.6 points in October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange strengthened 9.88 points to 546.26, for a jump on the week of nearly 14 points, or 2.6%.
All 12 TSX subgroups were in plus territory, with health-care soaring 3%, communications better 2.9%, and real-estate climbing 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 soared to a closing high for 2023 on Friday, extending November’s rally into the new month.
The Dow Jones Industrials hurtled higher 294.61 points at 36,245.50, bringing its year-to-date gain to about 9%.
The S&P 500 sprang up 26.83 points to 4,594.63.
The NASDAQ gathered 78.81 points, to 14,305.03.
Ulta Beauty and Boston Properties were among the stocks led the S&P 500 higher on Friday, gaining more than 10.6% each, while Paramount popped more than 8.5%.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday pushed back against the market’s expectations for interest rate cuts ahead, saying it is “premature to conclude with confidence” that monetary policy is “sufficiently restrictive.”
Data released earlier Friday showed that U.S. manufacturing remained at low levels in November, according to the Institute for Supply Management, which said that its manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 46.7 last month. November was the 13th straight month during which the PMI came out below 50, which is an indicator of a slowdown in manufacturing.
November’s gains snapped a three-month losing streak. The S&P jumped 8.9% and the NASDAQ rallied 10.7%, to notch their best monthly performances since July 2022. The Dow surged 8.8% for its best month since October 2022.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strode upward, lowering yields to 4.21% from Thursday’s 4.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices descended $1.73 to $74.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $32.80 to $2,090.20.
Provided Content: Content provided by Baystreet. The Globe and Mail was not involved, and material was not reviewed prior to publication.
