Canadian Stocks Are Climbing On Commodity Strength -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market is rising steadily in early trade Friday, after ending the previous session nearly flat. Gold prices have surged after the release of the weaker than expected U.S. employment report. The report has further strengthened the belief among investors that the Federal Reserve will leave rates unchanged in June.

Statistics Canada reported this morning that 2,100 jobs were lost in the month of April. Expectations were for no change. The Canadian unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.1 percent.

Markets in the United States are under pressure in early trade, after the April jobs report came in weaker than anticipated.

Employment in the U.S. climbed by much less than expected in the month of April, the Labor Department revealed in a closely watched report on Friday. The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 160,000 jobs in April compared to economist estimates for a jump of about 200,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate held at 5.0 percent in April, unchanged from the previous month. The rate had been expected to edge down to 4.9 percent.

After spending much of the session in the red, markets in Europe have pared their losses and are approaching positive territory. The markets hit their intraday low just after the release of the U.S. employment report, but have since climbed steadily.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 99.33 points or 0.73 percent at 13,731.34.

On Thursday, the index closed up 0.01 points or 0.00 percent, at 13,632.01. The index scaled an intraday high of 13,758.90 and a low of 13,578.79.

The Diversified Metal and Mining Index is surging 5.68 percent. HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO) is increasing 6.60 percent and Teck Resources (TCK-B.TO) is rising 4.68 percent. Capstone Mining (CS.TO) is up 1.30 percent and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is advancing 6.93 percent. Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) is climbing 3.87 percent and Sherritt International (S.TO) is adding 1.15 percent.

The Gold Index is advancing 3.87 percent. Gold prices surged Friday morning as a disappointing U.S. jobs report cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near zero for the rest of the year.

Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) is increasing 5.20 percent and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is rising 3.91 percent. Kinross Gold (K.TO) is climbing 7.03 percent and Royal Gold (RGL.TO) is up 1.11 percent. Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) is higher by 5.01 percent and Goldcorp (G.TO) is gaining 3.11 percent. B2Gold (BTO.TO) is advancing 3.54 percent and IAMGOLD (IMG.TO) is rising 6.02 percent.

The Capped Materials Index is also up 3.08 percent. Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) is increasing 2.63 percent and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) is higher by 3.23 percent. Silver Wheaton (SLW.TO) is rising 3.89 percent and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) is adding 0.53 percent. Agrium (AGU.TO) is advancing 0.19 percent.

The Energy Index is up 1.50 percent. Crude oil futures are little changed Friday morning despite a weak dollar and supply disruptions from Canada. The Fort McMurray wildfire threatens oil sands production in Alberta, and has taken as much as a quarter of the country's oil output off line, the Globe and Mail reports.

Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) is gaining 1.49 percent and Encana (ECA.TO) is rising 3.70 percent. Suncor Energy (SU.TO) is up 1.69 percent and Enbridge (ENB.TO) is adding 0.26 percent. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) is increasing 0.74 percent and Husky Energy (HSE.TO) is adding 1.70 percent. Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) is advancing 2.49 percent and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) is climbing 0.06 percent.

The Capped Industrials Index is gaining 1.09 percent. Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is higher by 0.87 percent and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) is adding 0.48 percent. Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is rising 0.75 percent and Air Canada (AC.TO) is climbing 1.79 percent. Finning International (FTT.TO) is up 1.09 percent.

AutoCanada (ACQ.TO) is surging 13.79 percent, after it reported first quarter EPS of $0.31, compared to 0.22 last year.

The Capped Information Technology Index is rising 0.59 percent. Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) is up 0.29 percent and Constellation Software (CSU.TO) is gaining 0.07 percent.

Sierra Wireless (SW.TO) is soaring 23.42 percent. The company reported first quarter non-GAAP EPS of $0.08 after the close Thursday, down from $0.22 a year ago. The company expects to report second quarter non-GAAP EPS of $0.09 to $0.17 and between $0.60 and $0.90 for the full year. The consensus estimates are for EPS of $0.01 and $0.70.

The heavyweight Financial Index is increasing 0.18 percent. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) climbing 0.29 percent and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) is adding 0.50 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) is rising 0.20 percent and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) is advancing 0.23 percent. Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is also up 0.07 percent.

The Capped Healthcare Index is losing 2.39 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TO) is sinking 9.64 percent and Concordia Healthcare (CXR.TO) is dropping 5.47 percent.

The Capped Telecommunication Services Index is down 0.10 percent. Rogers Communication (RCI-B.TO) is losing 0.22 percent and Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO) is decreasing 0.75 percent.

On the economic front, Germany's construction activity grew at the slowest pace in five months during April despite further gains in new business and employment amid stronger confidence among firms, survey data from Markit Economics showed Friday.

The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, fell further from February's recent high to 53.4 in April. In March, the reading was 55.8.

In commodities, crude oil futures for June delivery are up 0.29 or 0.65 percent at $44.61 a barrel.

Natural gas for June is up 0.033 or 1.59 percent at $2.109 per million btu.

Gold futures for June are up $16.70 or 1.31 percent at $1,289.00 an ounce.

Silver for July is up $0.123 or 0.71 percent at $17.45 an ounce.