Toronto stock index posts gains on strong jobs data ahead of holiday weekend

The Canadian Press</span>
Published Thursday, August 3, 2017 10:29AM EDT
Last Updated Friday, August 4, 2017 4:37PM EDT

TORONTO -- A strong jobs report in Canada saw the S&P/TSX composite index finish the week on an upbeat note ahead of the long weekend.

Canada's main stock index advanced 66.01 points to 15,257.97.

Earlier in the day, Statistics Canada reported that the economy added 10,900 jobs in July, the eighth month in a row of employment growth.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.3 per cent, a level not seen since October 2008, just before the global recession gripped Canada.

U.S. stocks also rose following that country's jobs report release, which showed employers added 209,000 jobs last month.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 66.71 points to 22,092.81, the S&P 500 index added 4.67 points to 2,476.83 and the Nasdaq composite index gained 11.22 points to 6,351.56.

The Canadian dollar was trading at an average price of 79.13 cents US, down 0.37 of a U.S. cent.

In commodities, the September crude contract advanced 55 cents to US$49.58 per barrel while December gold shed $9.80 to US$1,264.60 an ounce.

September natural gas declined 2.6 cents to about US$2.77 per mmBTU and September copper gained about one cent to roughly US$2.89 a pound.

Canadian financial markets will be closed on Monday, Aug. 7 for the Civic Holiday, while U.S. financial markets will be open.

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