Payroll news drives stocks higher

Stocks rose Friday, after a strong U.S. payrolls report pointing to big improvements in the labour market, offset only slightly by duller employment news here in Canada.

The S&P TSX Composite Index approached noon ahead by 23.77 points to 12,577.25

The Canadian dollar surged 0.46 cents at 100.53 cents U.S.

Among Canadian stocks, Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 2.4% to $73.55, Suncor Energy Inc. rose 0.9% to $34.56 and Teck Resources Ltd. rose 2% to $43.38

There were some setbacks, though. Estée Lauder Companies Inc. fell 5.2% after reporting disappointing quarterly earnings. Gold stocks were also weak, reflecting fading hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will employ another round of quantitative easing -- the act of printing money to buy government bonds. Barrick Gold Corp. fell 1.9% to $48.79.

Canada's economy created a negligible 2,300 net new jobs in the month as layoffs in construction and professional services offset modest hiring in manufacturing, that word from Statistics Canada.

The jobless rate ticked higher to 7.6% from 7.5%, the highest since April 2011, as more people were looking for work.

Analysts had predicted 23,100 new positions and a jobless rate holding steady from December at 7.5%

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 10.76 points to 1,671.33, while the Nasdaq Canada index shed 0.70 points to 427.77.

All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were positive by lunch time. Metals and mining gained 1.9%, industrials strengthened 1.4%, and global base metals popped 1.2%.

The laggards were kept down by gold, off 1.9%, materials, sliding 1%, and information technology, fading 0.7%.

ON WALLSTREET

In New York, stocks rallied Friday, as investors cheered a much stronger-than-expected report on January job growth.

The Dow Jones Industrials spiked 143.73 points, or 1.1%, midday to 12,849.10

The S&P 500 powered ahead 16.20 points to 1,341.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq added 43.04 points to 2,902.72

The rally pushed the Dow, up more than 5% in 2012, to the highest level since May 2008. The Nasdaq, up more than 11% for the year, climbed to its highest level since December 2000. The S&P 500 has gained almost 7% this year, and is at a six-month high.

Financial stocks were big gainers in Friday's rally, with Bank of America's 5% spike leading the Dow's gains. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs were all up between 3% and 4%.

Shares of Genworth Financial soared almost 15% after the mortgage insurer swung to a fourth-quarter profit.

Tyson Foods shares rose after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and issued slightly upbeat guidance.

Estee Lauder reported a 15% profit increase for its fiscal second quarter to $597 million U.S., but its stock tumbled as the company's guidance for the current quarter came in short of analyst expectations.

Zynga shares continue to rise, after Facebook's IPO revealed the gamemaker accounted for 12% of its revenue in 2011.

Research in Motion shares dipped after the BlackBerry-maker said it will give its tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, out to Android developers in exchange for their apps.

On the economic ledger, the U.S. Labor Department's monthly jobs report showed that the U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January, far exceeding expectations. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%, the lowest since February 2009.

Economists had expected the department to report an increase of just 130,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate was expected to rise to 8.6%.

Economists had expected a slowdown in post-holiday hiring, considering that about 40,000 temporary couriers were hired for the holidays alone.

Factory orders for December rose 1.1%, slightly below expectations. The January installment of the ISM Services Index hit 56.8, surpassing economists' expectations for 53.1, and up sharply from the prior month.

Treasury prices for the 10-year note took a header, boosting yields to 1.94% from Thursday's 1.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil for February delivery gained 55 cents to $96.92 U.S. a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $14.00 to $1,745.30 U.S. an ounce.