Toronto stocks close at another record high

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Friday as weak new jobs numbers from the U.S. helped to reduce investor anxiety about the possibility of a forthcoming taper of stimulus programs by the Federal Reserve.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 26.31 points to a new closing high of 20821.43, breaking the previous record set just the day before.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 74.73 points at 35369.09. The S&P 500 index was down 1.52 points at 4535.43, while the Nasdaq composite was up 32.34 points at 15363.52. Both of these markets had closed at record highs Thursday.

Market performance on Friday was largely driven by a new jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department, said Macan Nia, senior investment strategist with Manulife Financial.

The report indicated the American economy added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring, at a time when the coronavirus’ highly contagious Delta variant’s spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out. The August job gains fell far short of the big gains in June and July of about one million a month. The gains followed widespread vaccinations that allowed the easing of many pandemic restrictions.

The jobs report led investors to question whether the Delta variant is starting to affect economic growth. As a result, Nia said, investors are less anxious that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin tapering down its bond purchase program right away.

“The markets have been fuelled by accommodative central bank policy, and that has been one of the factors that have led to returns we’ve seen over the last year, which have been phenomenal,” Nia said. “If there was worry of a Fed buyback, this jobs report has probably delayed that. So risk-on assets have rallied as a result.”

The Canadian dollar traded for 79.88 cents US compared with

79.54 cents US on Thursday.

The October crude contract was down 70 cents at $69.29 US per barrel, and the October natural gas contract was up seven cents at $4.71 US per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up $22.20 US at $1,833.70 US an ounce, and the December copper contract was up three cents at $4.33 US a pound.