The Toronto stock market shifted higher Friday as traders focused on concerning data about the Chinese economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 32.76 points at 11,890.89, ending the week with a gain of about 2% as a more bullish sentiment began to emerge. The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 2.05 points to 1,191.
The 91原创 dollar closed at US$1.0091, up US0.1垄. The loonie had been as low as US$1.003, down nearly half a cent from Thursday's close, shortly after Statistics Canada's jobs report for July.
The federal agency reported the unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a point to 7.3% as 30,400 jobs were shed.
Traders have been revisiting worries about the global economy after economic data from China showed the world's second-largest economy is facing a slowdown.
The country reported sharply lower growth in its exports. The trade surplus with the 27-nation European Union, China's biggest trading partner, narrowed by 37.9% to $10.8 billion.
The figures are likely to heap the pressure on Beijing to take more measures to boost economic growth.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average moved up 42.76 points to 13,207.95 and the broader S&P slid 3.07 points to 1,405.87. The Nasdaq lost 2.22 points to 3,020.86.
At the TSX, energy stocks were off 0.4% with the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange closing down 49垄 to US$92.87 a barrel. Oil prices ended the week ahead nearly 2%.
September copper moved down 3.3垄 to US$3.39 a pound while December gold rose $2.60 to US$1,619.70 an ounce.
The biggest gainer was the information technology sector, up 3.7%, with Open Text ahead $5.13 to $54.19.
Research In Motion shares gained 50垄 to $8.22 following reports that IBM has an "informal" interest in buying the BlackBerry maker's enterprise division.
Financials stocks were up 0.2% with Royal Bank slipping 10垄 to $51.15.
In earnings, railway tie and utility pole maker Stella-Jones Inc. is raising its dividend 6.7% after reporting profits were up 20.1% at $20.8 million or $1.30 per share in its most recent quarter. That compared with net profits of $17.3 million or $1.08 per share in the same year-earlier period. Its shares rose $1.88 to $59.60.
Aimia, the company behind the Aeroplan loyalty rewards program, expects that labour disruptions that hurt Air Canada's quarterly profits will also affect the accumulation of air miles for the year.
It earned $34.9 million or 19垄 per share for the quarter ended June 30, up from $15.3 million or 7垄 per share a year ago.
