NEW YORK - Stock markets were modestly higher Friday morning as investors reckoned that dismal U.S. jobs data for February could have been worse.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index moved up 75.1 points to 7,704.2 as the U.S. Labour Department said the economy shed 651,000 jobs last month -- just slightly above expectations -- while the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 8.1 per cent from 7.6 per cent in January.
The Dow Jones industrials gained 51.1 points to 6,645.6 following a 281-point loss even as the data also showed that jobless numbers for the two previous months were far bigger than expected.
Revised data released Friday show U.S. job losses in December totalled 681,000, against the original 577,000 figure, while 655,000 jobs were lost in January, not the 598,000 originally reported.
The market had "anticipated bad news, and we got it," said Rob Lutts, president of Cabot Money Management in New York. But "my sense is, we haven't discounted all the negatives out there as of yet."
The Canadian dollar is up 0.35 of a cent US to 77.97 cents US.
The Nasdaq composite index added 6.51 points to 1,306.1 after losing 54 points while the S&P 500 index moved ahead seven points to 689.55 after losing 30 points on worries about U.S. bank downgrades, the future of General Motors Corp. and some disappointment that China did not unveil fresh stimulus measures.
Indexes in Toronto and New York are down sharply this week, with the Dow industrials plunging to 1997 levels and the TSX at 2003 lows.
Many analysts believe there is little keeping stocks from falling even further as worries about the automotive and financial sectors continue to weigh on investors.
The TSX's main support came from the energy sector as the April crude contract in New York rose $1.25 to US$46.11 a barrel. Suncor Inc. (TSX:SU) rose 87 cents to $27.07 and Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) gained $1.33 to $41.84.
The base metals sector rose two per cent. Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) improved 18 cents to $3.60.
The financial sector was little changed but National Bank (TSX:NA) shed 31 cents to $35.44.
The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) has taken a majority interest in Five Continents Financial Ltd., a global asset management firm in the Cayman Islands. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed and Scotiabank shares were off two cents to $26.19.
Autoparts maker Linamar Corp. (TSX:LNR) has cut its quarterly dividend in half. The Ontario-based company reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday and said it would pay a quarterly dividend of three cents per share, down from six cents in the previous quarter. Linamar shares fell 22 cents to $2.78.
U.S. bank Wells Fargo & Co. has slashed its quarterly dividend 85 per cent, to five cents a share from 34 cents, in an effort to save US$5 billion. Its shares climbed 32 cents to US$8.44.
Citigroup and Bank of America Corp. had already slashed their quarterly dividends to a penny per share.
In earnings news, SNC Lavalin Group Inc. (TSX:SNC) reported fourth quarter net income of $75 million, compared with a net income of $68.7 million for the same period in 2007. For all of 2008, the engineering giant reports $312.5 million in net income, compared with $153.2 million in 2007 and its shares climbed $1.35 to $30.
Industrial waste management services provider Newalta Inc. (TSX:NAL) said Friday it was cutting its dividend by 14 cents to five cents after reporting a drop in profits for both the most recent quarter and fiscal year. The company cited volatile markets and weak commodity prices and its shares slipped 13 cents to $3.57.
Markets overseas declined as Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 3.5 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.4 per cent.
Britain's FTSE 100 added 1.1 per cent, Germany's DAX index dipped rose 1.4 per cent, and France's CAC-40 was up 0.45 per cent.
