Canadian dollar jumps, stock markets surge on higher oil prices, job figures

TORONTO – Strong economic data and a surge in the price of oil boosted the Toronto stock market to a triple-digit gain Friday while the Canadian dollar soared almost a full cent against its U.S. counterpart.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index climbed 130.29 points to 13,396.73, led by the metals and mining sector, which gained 6.02 per cent, while energy stocks climbed 2.73 per cent.

The gain in energy issues came as the May contract for North American benchmark crude shot up $2.46 to US$39.72 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the oil-sensitive loonie gained 0.83 of a U.S. cent to 76.91 cents U.S.

Peggy Bowie of Manulife Asset Management says oil rose on speculation that OPEC and Russia will have an agreement to freeze output at their meeting later this month.

A temporary shutdown of the Keystone pipeline, a fire at Exxon’s refinery in Baytown, Texas, and rigs coming off line also helped, Bowie said.

“I would expect that this trend will continue for a longer period of time,” Bowie said. “The Canadian market, in my mind, has been oversold.”

In economic news, a Statistics Canada report showed the economy created 46,000 jobs last month. That was the biggest one-month jump since October and reduced the national unemployment rate to 7.1 per cent from 7.3 per cent in February.

Elsewhere in commodities, May natural gas shed three cents to US$1.99 per mmBtu, May copper added a penny to US$2.09 a pound and June gold rose $6.30 to US$1,243.80 a troy ounce.

South of the border, the Dow Jones industrials was up 35.00 points at 17,576.96, while the broader S&P 500 added 5.69 points to 2,047.60 and the Nasdaq edged up 2.32 points to 4,850.69.

Shares of Gap (NYSE:GPS) fell $3.83, or 13.84 per cent, to US$23.85 after the retailer said all three of its big chains — Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic — saw sales drop in March.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department said the country’s wholesale businesses reduced stockpiles for the fifth straight month in February while their sales dropped for the fourth straight month.

The numbers reflect sluggish economic growth as American businesses have struggled over the past year with spreading weakness overseas and a U.S. strong dollar, which makes American products less competitive on foreign markets.

In overseas trading, European stocks rallied, with Germany’s DAX adding one per cent, while France’s CAC 40 rose 1.4 per cent and the FTSE 100 in Britain climbed 1.1 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index finished 0.46 per cent higher, South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.1 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.51 per cent. China’s main Shanghai composite fell 0.78 per cent.

—With files from The Associated Press