The Canadian stock market is up slightly in early trade Friday. The bulk of the Canadian sectors are trading modestly to the upside, while gold and energy stocks are struggling. Commodity prices are relatively flat at the end of the trading week.
Markets in Europe are trading modestly to the upside Friday. Trading activity has been choppy following the release of some disappointing corporate earnings reports.
Markets on Wall Street opened slightly lower Friday but have since inched into positive territory. The weak start followed the release of the mixed U.S. jobs report for April. Job growth came in weaker than expected, but the drop in the unemployment rate was bigger than expected.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 31.35 points or 0.20 percent at 15,652.82.
On Thursday, the index closed down 6 points at 15,621.47.
The Gold Index is decreasing 0.27 percent. Gold prices are little changed Friday morning after a mixed U.S. jobs report.
Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is declining 0.78 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is losing 0.12 percent.
The Energy Index is falling 0.14 percent. Crude oil prices are inching higher Friday morning ahead of U.S. rig count figures.
Encana (ECA.TO) is lower by 0.37 percent and Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is declining 0.87 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is falling 0.31 percent.
Enbridge (ENB.TO) is gaining 0.73 percent. The U.S. government has fined the company $1.8 million for missing pipe inspection deadlines.
The Capped Materials Index is up 0.24 percent. Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is rising 0.31 percent and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is adding 0.13 percent. Nutrien (NTR.TO) is gaining 0.08 percent.
The Capped Information Technology Index is gaining 0.23 percent. BlackBerry (BB.TO) is increasing 0.29 percent and Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is rising 1.70 percent.
The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.19 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is gaining 0.26 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is advancing 0.13 percent. National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) is climbing 0.49 percent and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is adding 0.26 percent. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is rising 0.37 percent and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) is adding 0.10 percent.
On the economic front, China's private sector activity growth picked up since March but remained weaker than that seen at the turn of the year, survey results from IHS Markit showed Friday. The Caixin composite output index rose to 52.3 in April from a four-month low of 51.8 in March. A score above 50 indicates expansion.
Eurozone economic activity expanded strongly in April but the pace of expansion slowed marginally since March, final data from IHS Markit showed Friday. The composite output index fell slightly to 55.1 in April from 55.2 in March. According to flash estimate, the index remained unchanged at 55.2 in April.
Eurozone retail sales grew at a slower pace in March largely on weak non-food product sales, data from Eurostat showed Friday. Retail sales edged up 0.1 percent month-on-month in March, slower than February's 0.3 percent increase. This was also slower than the expected growth of 0.5 percent.
France's trade deficit widened in March on higher imports, figures from the customs office showed Friday. The trade gap increased to EUR 5.26 billion from EUR 5 billion a month ago. The shortfall was expected to remain unchanged at EUR 5 billion.
France's current account gap widened in the three months ended March, data from the Bank of France showed Friday. The seasonally and working-day-adjusted current account deficit rose to EUR 3.6 billion in the March quarter from EUR 0.3 billion in the previous quarter.
A closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed weaker than expected job growth in the month of April, although the unemployment rate still fell to its lowest level in over seventeen years.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 164,000 jobs in April compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 192,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in April after holding at 4.1 percent for six straight months. The unemployment rate had been expected to edge down to 4.0 percent.
In commodities, crude oil futures for May delivery are up 0.34 or 0.50 percent at $68.77 a barrel.
Natural gas for May is down 0.013 or 0.48 percent at $2.713 per million btu.
Gold futures for June are down 1.50 or 0.11 percent at $1,311.20 an ounce.
Silver for May is down 0.007 or 0.04 percent at $16.44 an ounce.
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