TSX Ends On Firm Note, Records First Close Above 20,000

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Friday, lifted by gains in materials and energy shares after commodity prices rose sharply.

The market saw some volatility early on in the session as investors also reacted to jobs data from Canada and the U.S.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which hit a fresh record high of 20,050.36 in early trades, ended the session with a gain of 87.80 points or 0.44% at 20,029.19, recording its first close above the 20,000 mark.

Materials shares Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), Oceanagold (OGC.TO), Nutrien (NTR.TO), Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO), Osisko Gold (OR.TO), Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV.TO), Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) and Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO) gained 2 to 5%.

In the energy section, Vermilion Energy (VET.TO) gained about 3.5% and Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) climbed 2.35%. MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO) and Arc Resources (ARX.TO) gained 1 to 2%.

Healthcare stocks Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO), Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) lost 4 to 5.6%. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUP.TO) slid 2.65%.

Data released by Statistics Canada showed the Canadian economy shed 68,000 jobs in the month of May 2021, much more than an expected decline of 20,000 jobs. The economy lost 207,000 jobs in April.

Full Time Employment in Canada decreased by 13,800 in May, while part time employment increased to -54,200 in the month from -77,800 in April of 2021.

The unemployment rate in Canada increased to 8.2% in May, up from 8.1% a month earlier.

Another report from Statistics Canada showed labour productivity in the country fell 1.7% in the first quarter after seeing a decline of 2.1% a quarter earlier.

A report from Richard Ivey School of Business said the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada rose to 64.7 in May from 60.6 in the previous month, pointing to a faster economic activity growth.

The U.S. Labor Department's data showed U.S. employment jumped by 559,000 jobs in May. However, that was a smaller than expected increase. U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 5.8% in the month, the data showed.