The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — The Canadian dollar surged Friday following data that showed job gains were eight times better than expected last month, as stock markets on both sides of the border stumbled amid the latest developments in the Trump-Russia probe. The loonie closed at an average trading price of 78.56 cents US, up 0.97 of a U.S. cent, after Statistics Canada said the economy added 79,500 jobs in November – blowing past the 10,000 that economists had expected. The wave of job creation last month knocked the unemployment rate down to 5.9 per cent, its lowest level in nearly a decade. “It’s a shockingly good number. It’s taken everyone by surprise and investors as well,” said Patrick Blais, a managing director and senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investments. However, he added, “the first impression would be it’s a positive development, but if you look through the numbers it’s a number that points to Canada’s reliance on consumer spending.” Blais said he wasn’t surprised to see the loonie react to the jobs data because it puts interest rates back on the agenda. “At the end of the day, it’s one of the major tools that can be used to temper some of the excesses in the market, and to see consumer spending stay this resilient and for people to tap into their savings is in itself worrisome,” he said. “It’s probably a reason for the Bank of Canada to consider another rate rise...”