(MENAFN- Baystreet)
Canada's main stock index opened flat on Friday after a surprise jump in employment figures led investors to scale back expectations for an October interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada.
The TSX eked up 14.17 points to begin the week's last session at 30,284.15.
The Canadian dollar regained 0.16 cents at 71.49 cents.
Markets in Canada will be closed Monday for Thanksgiving.
In corporate news, JPMorgan upgraded mining company First Quantum Minerals' rating to 'overweight' from 'neutral'. Shares in First Quantum moved forward 44 cents, or 1.4%, to $32.97.
Statistics Canada reported Friday the economy created 60,000 jobs during September, keeping the unemployment rate at 7.1%.
Traders are leaning toward an interest rate cut at the BoC's next policy announcement on October 29, after the central bank cut rates last month for the first time since March to support the economy.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange resurged 14.72 points, or 1.5%, to 1,008.99
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher in the first hour, consumer discretionary leading the pack, up 0.7%, while consumer staples and industrials each grabbed 0.6%.
The four laggards were weighed most by energy and health-care, each hesitating 1.9%, and real-estate, off 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks ticked higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ building on their weekly gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Index jumped 181.59 points to begin Friday's session at 46,540.01.
The much broader index recovered 17.41 points to 6,752.52
The tech-heavy NASDAQ grew 59.92 points to 23,084.54.
The U.S. government shutdown dragged into its 10th day on Friday, a day after the Senate failed for a seventh time to pass dueling stop-gap funding proposals that would have put an end to the stoppage.
At this point, there have been no signs that Republicans and Democrats have made meaningful progress on negotiations.
With the stalemate continuing, investors are struggling to find catalysts due to a lack of economic data from the government. However, the latest data from the University of Michigan showed that both the U.S. economy and the consumer are holding up.
Also offering some sense of consumer demand, earnings reports on Thursday from companies like Delta Air Lines and PepsiCo were positive, even though they weren't enough to sustain a rally in stocks that day.
Still, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ could eke out gains for the week of 0.5% and more than 1%, respectively. The 30-stock Dow, however, is pacing for a 0.5% drop.
Earnings season is set to begin in earnest next week, with several banks such as Citigroup and JPMorgan slated to post their third-quarter results.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained lost ground, lowering yields to 4.10% from Thursday's 4.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices deleted $1.25 to $60.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $19.40 to $3,992 U.S. an ounce.

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