TSX Gains On Metals Rally, Encouraging Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - Canada's equity benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed higher on Friday, supported by strong gains in the materials sector after prices of precious metals moved up amid easing concerns about Fed interest rates after data showed a decrease in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in the month of July.

Encouraging Canadian employment data contributed as well to market's upmove. Uncertainty over a potential U.S.-Iran deal limited market's upside.

In addition to digesting the jobs data from Canada and the U.S., investors also reacted to a slew of corporate earnings announcements.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 171.95 points or 0.48% at 36,308.27 a little while ago.

The Materials Capped Index climbed nearly 4.5%. B2Gold Corp soared 22% despite reporting lower EPS for the second quarter.

Iamgold Corporation zoomed 12.5% after reporting earnings per share of $0.43 in the second-quarter, compared with $0.13 in the year-ago quarter.

Aris Mining Corporation, Allied Gold Corporation, Southern Cross Gold, Ssr Mining, G Mining Ventures, Orla Mining, Equinox Gold Corp., Seabridge Gold, Wheaton Precious Metals, K92 Mining and Ero Copper climbed 7%-10%.

Russel Metals jumped 14% after reporting earnings per share of $1.43 in the second quarter, as against earnings per share of $1.07 a year ago.

Jamieson Wellness, Perpetua Resources, Quebecor, Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, Goeasy, Magna International, Cameco Corporation, Thomson Reuters, Colliers International Group, RB Global, Canadian Tire Corporation and Shopify posted impressive gains.

Wheaton Precious Metals surged nearly 7% after reporting earnings per share of $1.19 for the second quarter, compared with $0.63 a year earlier.

Wajax Corporation tumbled 10%. Extendicare lost 8%. Hut 8 Corp., Open Text Corporation, Gran Tierra Energy, Nutrien, AutoCanada, AtkinsRealis, Tecsys, Bombardier and Methanex Corporation lost 2%-7%.

Keyera Corp shed about 2% despite reporting higher EPS in the second quarter. The company reported an EPS of $1.19 in the second quarter, up from $0.55 a year ago.

Sun Life Financial gained about 2%. The company reported earnings per share of $2.02 for the second quarter, compared with $1.79 in the year-ago quarter.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited reported a net income of C$4.503 billion, or C$2.15 per share, for the second-quarter, higher than C$2.459 billion, or C$1.17 per share in the same period last year. The stocks gained about 0.7%.

Lundin Gold Inc. shares climbed 5% after the company said it posted a net income of $219.87 million or $0.91 per share, in the second-quarter, compared with $196.73 million or $0.81 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Data from the Labor Department showed U.S. non-farm payroll employment dropped by 23,000 jobs in July. The economy was expected to add 70,000 jobs in July.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in the month from 4.2% in June. The rate was expected to remain unchanged.

Data from Statistics Canada showed employment in Canada climbed by 75,100 jobs in July. The unemployment rate edged down to 6.4% in July, from 6.5% a month earlier.

A separate data from Statistics Canada showed average hourly wages in Canada increased 3.7% year-on-year to C$38.61 in June, following a 3.2% increase in May.

A report from Ivey Business School said Canada's Ivey PMI fell to 55.1 in July from 56.2 in June, slightly below market expectations of 55.5, but remained in expansionary territory. The reading marked the second consecutive monthly decline and the lowest level since March.