The Canadian Press

The Canadian dollar surged to its highest level since July 2008 on Friday, following the release of jobs data for February that came in better than expected.

Statistics Canada said 21,000 jobs were created last month, better than the 15,000 that had been expected by many economists, while the unemployment rate fell by one percentage point to 8.2% from 8.3%.

The solid employment data – which included 60,000 full-time positions offset by a decline in part-time jobs and self-employment – raised hopes that the Bank of Canada is on track to hike interest rates later this year if the recovery continues.

The loonie ran up 0.81 of a cent to 98.44 cents, adding to recent gains for Canada’s currency against the American dollar.

Meanwhile, energy stocks could take the Toronto stock market higher Friday after the Alberta government announced it is cutting the royalties it charges the oil and gas industries.

The maximum rate for both natural gas and oil had been 50%. But the government announced Thursday the cap will be 40% for oil and 36% for gas.

Many producers responded to new, higher royalties a year ago by moving their investment out of the province.

The energy sector could also find lift from higher crude prices, with the April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up 60 cents to US$82.71 a barrel.

Other commodities advanced with April gold on the Nymex ahead $8.80 to US$1,117 an ounce while May copper added three cents to US$3.40 a pound.

U.S. futures pointed to a positive open ahead of February retail sales data.

Economists predict retail sales likely slipped slightly last month, reflecting weakness in demand for autos and the severe winter storms that hit much of the country.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters are forecasting that sales dipped 0.2% in February following a gain of 0.5% in January.

The Dow Jones industrial futures rose 24 points to 10,572, the Nasdaq futures gained two points to 1,924.5 while the S&P 500 futures were ahead 2.4 points to 1,148.3.

The TSX will also likely benefit from market heavyweight Potash Corp. The company raised its first-quarter earnings guidance due to a sharp rebound in potash demand. The company said it now expects to earn between $1.30 and $1.50 per share for first three months of the year, up from earlier guidance of 70 cents to $1 per share. The guidance compared with a profit of $1.02 per share in the first three months of 2009.

Elsewhere in the sector, fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. (TSX:AGU) is dropping its hostile takeover bid for U.S. company CF Industries Holdings Inc. Agrium had offered US$45 in cash plus one of its shares for each CF share in a bid that valued the company at nearly US$5.5 billion. However the offer was contingent on CF dropping its own takeover bid for Iowa-based fertilizer producer Terra Industries Inc., which said this week that it’s now in favour of the CF deal.

In other corporate news, First Uranium Corp. (TSX:FIU) will issue between $125 million and $150 million in secured, convertible debt to several parties including current shareholder groups. The Toronto-based company warned last month that its financial condition had been “severely compromised” by problems getting government environmental approval for a future storage facility in South Africa.

Goldcorp Inc. earned a profit of US$66.7 million in its latest quarter as revenue grew nearly 30% from a year ago .The gold miner, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said Thursday it earned US$66.7 million or nine cents per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $958.1 million or $1.31 per share a year ago.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.8% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1%.

London’s FTSE 100 index added 0.27%, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.78% and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.48%.