Toronto — The Toronto stock market closed higher Thursday with investors getting some good news ahead of the release on Friday of jobs reports for October in both Canada and the United States.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 109.5 points to 11,180.7 with all sectors ahead, led by gains in the telecom and base metals.
The Canadian dollar was off 0.17 of a cent (U.S.) to 93.83 cents.
Investors were relieved by a U.S. Labour Department report that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in 10 months. Claims came in at 512,000, much better than economists' estimates of 523,000.
Still, companies are reluctant to hire and economists expect the U.S. unemployment rate will tick up a tenth of a percentage point to 9.9 per cent. It is also expected that another 175,000 Americans lost their jobs in October.
Canadian jobs data also comes out Friday. Economists believe the economy added 10,000 jobs last month but the jobless rate is expected to remain unchanged at 8.4 per cent.
The Toronto base metals sector advanced 1.3 per cent even as December copper eased 4 cents to $2.957 a pound. The telecom sector advanced 1.63 per cent.
The gold sector was ahead 0.5 per cent as bullion moved deeper into record high territory, with the December contract in New York up $2 to $1,089.30 an ounce.
The TSX energy sector was ahead almost 1 per cent even as oil prices lost ground amid a strengthening U.S. dollar. The December oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 74 cents to $79.66 a barrel.
The TSX financial sector was up 0.8 per cent amid earnings reports from three big insurers.
Many analysts think the markets are at a crucial juncture after running practically straight up since early March and that stocks could be facing a year-end slide. Over the last couple of months, most of the dips have proved to be short-lived.
However, the markets have been very volatile over the last couple of weeks, with many traders wondering whether current stock valuations are justified by the wider economic fundamentals.
“It's going to be a choppy path forward because the fundamentals aren't that great, especially south of the border,” said John Stephenson, portfolio manager at First Asset Funds Inc.
“The tone is definitely positive but ... there's no conviction in the strength of this rally. And while I do believe the rally is legit and I believe we will, over long periods of time, go higher, and substantially higher from here, at least in Canada, I think the easy sledding is behind us.”
The TSX Venture Exchange inched ahead a fifth of a point to 1,331.55.
New York markets also surged ahead of the jobs report and got extra lift after retailers posted their second consecutive gain in sales in October after more than a year of declines, indicating consumers are starting to spend a little more.
The Dow Jones industrials surged 203.82 points to 10,005.96.
The Nasdaq composite index advanced 49.8 points to 2,105.32 while the S&P 500 index was up 20.13 points to 1,066.63.
