TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index finished narrowly in positive territory, while U.S. markets were mixed as economic data and earnings came into focus.
Adam Ludwick, director of asset allocation at NEI Investments, said the TSX benefited from strong corporate earnings and labour data that surprised to the upside.
“Overall, the Canadian earnings picture has been quite strong,” he said.
He added that gold prices have also helped as the basic materials sector added the most points to the index on Friday.
“Gold is a massive standout. I think earnings growth is up over 90 per cent year-over-year, and that’s attributed to the massive jump in the commodity itself. And you are having some good results in financials that are carrying in from calendar Q3 at least,” he said.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 43.60 points at 29,912.19.
On the economic front, Canadian investors digested fresh employment figures.
Statistics Canada said Friday the economy added 67,000 jobs in October, good enough to drive the unemployment rate down two tenths of a percentage point to 6.9 per cent.
Economists polled by Reuters ahead of Friday’s release had expected the labour market would take a breather with a loss of 2,500 jobs in October, following a surprise gain of 60,000 positions in September.
Ludwick said markets were “pleasantly surprised” with the jobs data.
“The caveat is that it seems to be more part-time than full-time that’s generating some of this surprise to the upside,” he said.
“I don’t know if that’s more seasonal hiring, whether ahead of Black Friday and then the holiday season, but it’s definitely a positive surprise.”
While strong earnings growth was supportive of Canadian stocks, U.S. markets also dealt with the outsized impact of large U.S. tech companies.
The U.S. market was weighed down by technology stocks, especially several big names with huge valuations that give them outsized influence over the direction of the market. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, fell 2.1 per cent and Broadcom fell 1.7 per cent.
“You’ve seen a little bit of a pullback in some of these names that are tied to the AI investment space,” Ludwick said.
“I think just on a little bit of fears of valuation and some notable investors and other strategists have been kind of commenting on valuation getting a little bit top-heavy, so you might see a bit of a pullback there.”
The U.S. government shutdown is now responsible for yet another missing economic report typically relied on by Wall Street and economists. The monthly employment data for October was unavailable, as was the monthly data for September previously.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 74.80 points at 46,987.10. The S&P 500 index was up 8.48 points at 6,728.80, while the Nasdaq composite was down 49.46 points at 23,004.54.
The Canadian dollar traded for 71.11 cents US compared with 70.84 cents US on Thursday.
The December crude oil contract was up 32 cents US at US$59.75 per barrel. The December gold contract was up US$18.80 at US$4,009.80 an ounce.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2025.
— With files from The Associated Press.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
