U.S. jobs data boost tsx, dow, S&P

The Toronto stock market was higher Friday as U.S. job creation data and a strong showing in the U.S. manufacturing sector raised hopes that indexes can build on strong January gains.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 83.59 points to 12,768.83 while the TSX Venture Exchange was ahead 6.95 points at 1,228.66.

The U.S. Labour Department’s non-farm payrolls report said the U.S. economy created 157,000 jobs in January. It also significantly revised upward the number of jobs created in November and December, with a total of 127,000 more jobs created than initially thought. Still, the jobless rate rose 0.1 of a point to 7.9%.

Sentiment was further improved as a key reading on manufacturing came in much better than expected. The Institute for Supply Management’s index came in at 53.1 in January, up from 50.2 in December, to the highest level since April. Economists had expected a read of 50.5.

The Canadian dollar was unchanged at US100.27¢, after the loonie closed above parity on Thursday for the first time in a week.

U.S. indexes were sharply higher as the Dow Jones industrials ran ahead 149.21 points to 14,009.79, closing above the 14,000 level for the first time since October 2007.

BlackBerry, the company formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., rose 9¢ or 0.7% to $13.01 after tumbling 17% over the previous two sessions following the rollout of its new BlackBerry 10 lineup.

Part of the reason for the slide had been profit-taking after the stock ran up 50% in January alone, and up 200% from its 52week low of $6.10 in September. But availability has become an issue as U.S. customers won’t be able to get the BlackBerry Z10 until March, a month later than in Canada.

In earnings news, Exxon Mobil said fourth-quarter earnings rose 6% to US$9.95 billion with help from higher profit margins in its refining business. Net income equalled $2.20 per share, compared with $1.97 per share a year earlier. Revenue was down 5% to $115.17 billion.

Its Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Oil, reported higher net income in the fourth quarter as lower expenses more than offset a decrease in revenue. Imperial said its net income in the latest period was $1.07 billion or $1.26 per diluted share. That was up 7% from last year’s $1.01 billion, or $1.18 per diluted share. Revenue fell to $7.8 billion from $8.1 billion and its shares were 11¢ higher to $43.91.

Metal and oil prices headed higher in the wake of the U.S. economic data and the base metals sector was up 1.32% while March copper was up 5¢ to US$3.78 a pound. Teck Resources was ahead 65¢ at $37.