STRONG U. S. JOB DATA LIFT TSX, N. Y. MARKETS

TORONTO • The Toronto stock market closed with a modest gain Friday even as a rebound in U. S. job creation boosted confidence in the U.S. economy.

The S& P/ TSX composite index gained 29.14 points to 14,789.78 after the U.S. Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy created 248,000 jobs last month, which handily beat expectations of about 215,000.

The U.S. jobless rate also ticked down 0.2 of a point to 5.9%, the lowest level since July 2008. August job creation was revised upward to 180,000 from 142,000.

“This is a positive set of numbers, no doubt about it,” said Bob Gorman, chief portfolio strategist at TD Waterhouse.

“Apart from the overall job increase, it was mostly on the private-sector side. Average weekly hours worked up a touch, which is also good. So that means employment is up but also money in people’s pockets is up.”

Toronto gains were held back by lower resource stocks as the strong U.S. dollar continued to punish commodity prices. Gold miners fell as bullion closed below US$1,200 — its lowest close since February 2010.

U.S. indexes registered solid gains with the Dow Jones industrial average ahead 208.64 points to 17,009.69, Nasdaq gained 45.43 points to 4,475.62 and the S&P 500 index climbed 21.73 points to 1,967.90.

However, the strong U.S. dollar and subpar trade data pushed the Canadian dollar sharply lower, down US0.76¢ to a fresh six-month low of US88.82¢. Statistics Canada said that Canada’s trade balance hit a deficit of $615-million, down from a revised July surplus of $2.2-billion.

Despite the gains registered Friday, markets ended the week with losses amid a list of concerns.

While U.S. data has been generally positive, economic data from China and Europe has been weak. On Thursday, International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde described the economic recovery as “brittle, uneven and beset by risks.”

Also, the U.S. Federal Reserve will also be wrapping up its quantitative easing program at the end of the month. The massive bond-buying program had kept long-term rates low and encouraged a huge rally on stock markets over the last few years.

There has also been heightened speculation that the Fed could hike interest rates next year, earlier than expected. Crude oil has fallen below US$90 a barrel this week for the first time since April, 2013 and copper finished at a sixmonth low.

On Friday, the Toronto market found support from a rise of 1.4% in the industrials sector and a 0.4% gain in financials.

The TSX energy sector was down 0.5% while the November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was US$1.27 lower to US$89.74 a barrel, down 4% for the week.