Stock markets to open slightly higher amid strong U.S. employment data

TORONTO – The Toronto stock market was set for a higher open as U.S. jobs data blew past expectations.

The Canadian dollar moved down 0.22 of a cent to 91.01 cents US.

New York futures were also higher after the U.S. Labor Department reported that the American economy cranked out 288,000 jobs during April. Economists had expected growth of around 200,000. Also, the jobless rate fell from 6.7 per cent to 6.3 per cent, the lowest level since September 2008.

The Dow Jones industrial futures rose 29 points to 16,517, the Nasdaq futures gained six points to 3,592.8 and the S&P 500 futures gained 3.25 points to 1,881.

The news wasn’t all good: the labour force participation rate fell to just 62.8 per cent during April from 63.2 per cent.

The jobs data was released in the wake of other recent economic reports that have pointed to faster economic growth after a dismal start to the year, slowed by a brutal winter.

Canadian jobs data for April will be released next Friday.

There was some major dealmaking in the media sector as Torstar Corp. (TSX:TS.B), owner of the Toronto Star and other newspapers, said it’s selling the Harlequin book publishing company for $455 million to News Corp. It will be run as a division of HarperCollins Publishers, a subsidiary of News Corp. Torstar has said lower revenues were the primary challenge at Harlequin, well known for its romance novels, as the book publishing company adjusted to the digital environment.

SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) announced Thursday that it is selling AltaLink, Alberta’s largest regulated electricity transmission company, to a subsidiary of the holding company run by U.S. financier Warren Buffett for gross proceeds of $3.2 billion. The deal with Berkshire Hathaway Energy represents what the Montreal-based engineering giant says is “another significant step” in its strategic plan to unlock and create value from its portfolio of infrastructure concession investments.

And the board of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has flatly rejected drug maker Pfizer’s sweetened takeover offer just hours after it was levelled. Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, offered 50 pounds or US$84 a share in cash and stock, which would value AstraZeneca at $106 billion dollars. The offer was a 7.3 per cent increase on a previous bid but AstraZeneca describes it as inadequate.

In earnings news, Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSX:GIL) posted a second-quarter net profit of US$79.2 million, or 64 cents per share, compared with $72.3 million, or 59 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2013. The maker of t-shirts, socks and underwear said net sales were up 4.9 per cent at $548.8 million, compared with $523 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2013.

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX:AEM) says it had US$108.9 million of net income in the first quarter of 2014, a big improvement over the $23.9-million profit reported a year earlier. Ex-items, net income was US$106.8 million or 61 cents per share.

LinkedIn suffered a first-quarter loss as the online professional networking service ramped up its investments in projects aimed at attracting more users. However, ex-items, the company earned 38 cents per share, four cents ahead of forecasts. Revenue rose 46 per cent from last year to $473.2 million, about $7 million above analyst predictions.

On the commodity markets, June crude in New York was up 52 cents to US$99.94 a barrel.

July copper was up a cent to US$3.03 a pound while June bullion faded $3 to US$1,280.40 an ounce.