North American markets held on to modest gains Friday as investors shook off a dismal U.S. jobs report.

The TSE 300 rose 39.39 points to 7,024.

Overall, 10 of the TSE’s 14 sub-indices advanced, led by a 2.92% jump in transports and a solid 1.1% gain in financial services

Volume was light with 81 million shares changing hands. Market momentum was positive with advances outpacing declines 539 to 462.

Communications networking company Bracknell topped the list of active stocks today. Bracknell shares fell 72% to 5.5¢, on a volume of 6.8 million shares. This morning the firm’s directors resigned and the company announced it was defaulting on its bank loans.

Air Canada rose 2¢ to $2.89, after releasing preliminary third quarter results. The airline showed pre-tax net losses of $160 million.

Nortel Networks fell 5¢ to $9.35.

Bell Canada International dropped 25¢ to $1.68, while QLT dropped $5.62, nearly 16% to $30.30

Among the banks, Bank of Nova Scotia gained $1 to $46.15, while CIBC added 65¢ to $51.10.

Power Financial reported that third quarter earnings were unchanged from a year ago. The firm’s shares closed up 4%, thanks to an increase in the quarterly dividend.



In New York, trading got off to a rocky start on news that the U.S. jobless rate soared to 5.4% in October. But investors regained their confidence later in the session.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 59.64 points to 9,323.54. The Nasdaq composite index see-sawed though the day, finally slipping 0.57 points to close at 1,745.73. The S&P 500 gained 3.12 points to 1,087.22

The CDNX Index closed up 31.27 at 2, 997.11 Trading was active on a volume of 28.0 million, with 203 advances, 147 declines and 522 issues unchanged.

The Canadian dollar managed to inch up today, closing at US62.83¢, up US0.17¢.