Showing no ill effects in the wake of yesterday’s terrorist attacks on London, North American markets posted strong gains Friday fuelled by positive economic news on both sides of the border.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 56.86, or 0.56%, to 10,177.86.

Volume on the senior exchange was 183 million shares.

Statistics Canada reported that the unemployment rate in June slipped to 6.7% from 6.8% as the economy added 14,000 jobs last month.

The Canadian dollar closed at US82.01¢, its first time above US82¢ cents since early April and up sharply from Thursday’s close of US81.38¢.

Nine of the 10 TSX sub-groups were up, with only the energy sector, which fell 0.11%, posting a loss.

Crude futures for August delivery fell $1.10 to close at US$59.63 a barrel, after climbing to an intra-day record US$61.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On the TSX, EnCana Corp. was down 8¢, or 0.15%, to close at $53.00, while Nexen Inc. was up 30¢, or 0.71%, to close $42.82.

The heavily weighted financials sector posted a strong gain of 0.90%. All six of the big banks rose in share value. Toronto Dominion headed the pack with a 64¢, or 1.17%, gain, finishing $55.19.

In the materials sector, Alcan Inc. announced it had bought a California-based wiring systems company and said it might sell its food packaging plastic bottle business. The company’s shares rose $1.10, or 2.98%, to close $38.00.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished up 5.79, or 0.34%, to 1,731.99.

In New York, all three major indices posted impressive gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 146.85, or 1.43%, to close 10,449.14; the Nasdaq composite index advanced 37.22, or 1.79%, to finish 2,112.86; and the S&P 500 index gained 13.99, or 1.17%, to end 1,211.86.

For the week, the Dow was up 1.41%, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.46%, and the Nasdaq gained 2.70%.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that 146,000 jobs were created in June and the unemployment rate fell a tenth of a point to 5%. The Labor Department also revised its April and May numbers upward by a total of 44,000 jobs.