By Gavin Adamson
North American markets closed out the week higher on thin volume, the day before long holiday weekends in Canada and the US.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has expressed a bias towards economic tightening and higher interest rates if inflation rears its head. But investors reacted positively to a mixed-news U.S. labour report that indicated there were fewer jobs compared with a month ago, although wages are increasing. While higher wages can sometimes be a harbinger of higher prices, there’s no indication that consumer indexes are on the rise.
Gasoline showed the only noticeable price increase, but that, too, may change. The price of oil slid all day, as traders saw data that OPEC is allowing more production of crude than it was a month ago.
Consequently, the Dow closed up 112.71 at 10,649.7, and Nasdaq hopped up by 25.88 to 2886.58. The S&P took on 18.31 to close at 1336.02.
The TSE 300 gained 51.51 to 7114.97, with the financial services sector leading the way once again. Both Western exchanges were down just marginally in late trading, and the ME inched up by 13.99 to 3,752.63.
There are no major economic reports due out next week. Markets are closed in Canada and the U.S. on Monday for Thanksgiving and Columbus Day holidays, respectively.