Mining stocks led the way to a strong showing on the Toronto stock market Friday amid general relief over a plan to lower eurozone borrowing costs.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 128.28 points to 12,268.01, while the TSX Venture Exchange climbed 18.41 points to 1,276.71.
The plan by the European Central Bank to buy up government bonds raised hopes that greater financial stability in Europe will help the region get out of its economic slump, hopefully hike demand for oil and metals and send share prices higher on the resource-intensive TSX.
"Any indication of stability is positive, is viewed that we can get things back on track and get global economic growth back into a positive trajectory," said Jennifer Dowty, portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management.
It was a different showing in New York as traders considered vastly different employment pictures for Canada and the U.S.
Surging copper and a weak U.S. currency also helped push the Canadian dollar up 0.48 of a cent to 102.23 cents US as Statistics Canada said the economy created 34,300 jobs in August. That was much better than the approximately 10,000 new jobs that economists had expected.
Surging copper and a weak U.S.
The unemployment rate remained un-changed at 7.3%, however.
U.S. markets were slightly higher, as a poor U.S. jobs report was expected to persuade the Federal Reserve to launch further stimulus.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that 96,000 jobs were created in August, less than the 125,000 that had been forecast. The jobless rate edged down to 8.1% from 8.3%, but that was because of fewer people looking for work. The department said 41,000 fewer jobs had been created in June and July than previously reported.
The Dow Jones industrials was up 14.64 points to 13,306.64, while the Nasdaq composite index inched up 0.61 of a point to 3,136.42, weighed down by a revenue warning from chip giant Intel.
The S&P 500 index gained 5.80 points to 1,437.92.
Previous easing measures by the Fed have supported financial markets. The Fed's intentions could become clearer next week when the central bank holds its next interest rate meeting. "It tilts the scale for some sort of action next week by (Fed chairman Ben) Bernanke," Dowty said.
"The market is certainly betting on it, suggesting if we don't see action next week it will certainly create some volatility."
North American markets were set to end the week higher in the wake of the ECB's move Thursday to get a grip on the eurozone's debt crisis.
