Stock markets rise on jobs reports

The S&P/TSX composite index added 8.64 points to 12,159.77 while the TSX Venture Exchange gave back 0.64 of a point to 1,186.06.

Shares in energy giant Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY) tumbled in a volatile final hour of trading ahead of an expected announcement by the federal government after the close on dealing with foreign takeovers of domestic resource firms. Nexen fell $1.58 or 6.35% to $23.29 on heavy volume of 3.6 million shares. Shares also fell on speculation Prime Minister Stephen Harper would also announce a decision on whether Chinese state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company can go ahead with its $15.1-billion friendly bid for Nexen.

Statistics Canada reported the economy added 59,000 jobs last month, while the jobless rate dropped by 0.2 of a point to 7.2%.

Economists had expected a smaller increase of about 10,000 jobs, following a minimal 1,800 job gain in October.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.01 of a cent to 100.91 cents US.

The news was equally surprising in the U.S., where economists had expected a lacklustre report with job creation impacted by superstorm Sandy.

But the U.S. Labor Department said the economy cranked out 146,000 jobs in November while the jobless rate decreased 0.2 of a point to 7.7%. On a less positive note, job gains for the previous two months were ratcheted down by 49,000.

Traders later took in other data that showed “fiscal cliff” worries are affecting consumer confidence.

The Dow Jones industrials ran ahead 81.09 points to 13,155.13 after the widely-watched University of Michigan’s measure of consumer confidence fell to a four-month low of 74.5 in December, from 82.7.

“I think the change in sentiment is all sentiment and it’s not based on fundamentals at all,” said Philip Petursson, director of institutional equities at Manulife Asset Management.

“I think what we’re seeing as far as the University of Michigan is concerned is just a reaction to all the negative press that has been surrounding the fiscal cliff and I think that weighs on confidence of Americans.”

The Nasdaq dipped 11.23 points to 2,978.04 and the S&P 500 index edged 4.13 points higher to 1,418.07.

The “fiscal cliff” is the name for a situation that would arrive at the end of December if substantial tax increases and spending cuts are triggered. The worry is that the moves would immediately cut into economic growth, likely sending the U.S. into recession and taking other world economies along with it.

Indexes fell further late in the morning after House Speaker John Boehner accused President Barack Obama of wasting another week in trying to arrive at a deal.

The Republicans are resisting tax hikes but Obama has made it clear that taxes will have to go up for the top two per cent of taxpayers.

@page_break@ On the week, the TSX was down 79.59 points or 0.65%, led by a drop of about four per cent in the gold sector as the price of bullion traded at or below the psychologically important US$1,700 level. And energy stocks lost ground while demand concerns pushed oil down for the past four sessions.

The Dow industrials had a better week, up 129.55 points or one per cent.

Also on Friday, traders took in a strong earnings report from Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS). Net income jumped 31% from a year ago to $1.5 billion, while the bank’s adjusted earnings came in at $1.21 a share, three cents better than estimates. Its shares slipped three cents to US$55.53 as the bank narrowly missed revenue estimates.

The Scotiabank results capped a string of generally positive earnings reports from the big banks. TD Bank (TSX:TD) and CIBC (TSX:CM) lost ground Thursday as their reports showed that adjusted earnings beat expectations but those banks also missed on revenue forecasts while National Bank (TSX:NA) matched forecasts.

The gold sector led TSX advancers Friday, up about 0.7% while February bullion gained $3.70 to US$1,705.50 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) climbed 43 cents to C$36.91.

The base metals sector led decliners, down almost one per cent with March copper ahead two cents at US$3.66 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) gave back 40 cents to $34.60 while Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) shed 24 cents to $5.01.

The energy sector was down 0.64%. Oil prices slipped back into negative territory after demand concerns helped push oil down for the previous three sessions, with the January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 33 cents to US$85.93 a barrel for a loss of three per cent this week. Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO) was down 79 cents to C$42.75.

Telecoms were also weak as Telus Corp. (TSX:T) shed 64 cents to $64.26.

In other corporate news, the $6.1-billion takeover of Viterra Inc. (TSX:VT) by Swiss commodity trader Glencore International has been approved by China’s ministry of commerce. It’s the final regulatory step required for Glencore to buy Viterra, a Canadian company with major grain handling operations in Australia. As a result of the final approval, Glencore expects the effective closing date of the deal to be Dec. 17. Viterra shares were up 35 cents to $16.20.

SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) shares gained 90 cents to $37.75 as it announced an oil services contract in the Persian Gulf region. Details of that deal weren’t disclosed. The engineering firm also said its AltaLink subsidiary has received approval for a $1.5-billion transmission line extension in Alberta.

The contracts cap a week in which SNC-Lavalin consortia were selected to build the $2.1-billion light transit rail line in Ottawa and a power plant that will produce 463 megawatts of power in Poland.