Canada's main stock index rose to a two-week high on Friday, led by financial and industrial shares after solid U.S. jobs data boosted investor sentiment, while energy stocks climbed on higher oil prices.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed up 80.39 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 16,096.07, its highest close since Nov. 24. For the week, the TSX rose 0.4 per cent.
Industrials advanced one per cent, helped by gains for the country's two main railway companies, while the heavyweight financials group added 0.5 per cent.
Oil pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd (KML.TO) gained nearly five per cent to $17.48 after the country's energy regulator ruled it could sidestep some municipal permits for its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The overall energy group rose 0.6 per cent, while U.S. crude futures settled 1.2 per cent higher at US$57.36 a barrel.
Among the most influential gainers on the index was Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (VRX.TO), which rose 11.8 per cent to $25.36.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.6 per cent.
Nine of the index's 10 main groups ended in positive territory, with telecoms being the one declining group.
Shares of Rogers Communications Inc (RCIb.TO) fell 0.6 per cent to $64.87, one of the heaviest weights on the index, after the cable and telecom company said its chairman would step down at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Edward Rogers, the son of the family-controlled company's founder Ted Rogers.
Wall Street indexes advanced after a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs gain locked in expectations for an interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve next week and boosted optimism about economic prospects for 2018.
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