Upward finish for TSX

Canadian stocks remained moderately higher as a strong day in the gold sector outweighed concern over jobs data. The market enjoyed a fourth straight daily gain.

The S&P/TSX composite index ended the day ahead 69.72 points to 11.250.42.

Following two months of moderate growth, Statistics Canada said Friday morning that employment decreased by 43,000 in October, all in part time. This drop pushed the unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 8.6%.

Gold stocks surged after the precious metal reached above $1,100 U.S. for the first time. Royal Gold has added 8.3% to $54.56, Iamgold added 5.1% to $17.77 and Agnico-Eagle Mines climbed 2.7% to $61.87.

Materials stocks were up, also boosted by gold's rally. Agrium added 1.3% to $53.95 after its latest takeover proposal has been rejected by CF Industries Holdings.

SNC-Lavalin jumped 4.2% to $47.20 after the company said its third-quarter net income rose to $103.1 million or $0.68 per share from $91.3 million or $0.60 per share in the prior year period.

Suncor reported third-quarter earnings of $929 million for the recent quarter, compared to $815 million last year. The stock gained a penny to $35.38.

Epsilon Energy dropped 3.9% to $2.00 after the company reported third quarter net loss of $2.8 million U.S. or $0.06 U.S. per share, compared to a net loss of $148,000 U.S. or breakeven per share in the prior-year quarter.

Air Canada shares took flight 2.6% to $1.17 after the company reported that its third-quarter net income was $277 million or $2.44 per share, compared to a loss of $132 million or $1.32 per share in the same quarter last year.

Brookfield Asset Management slid 1.8% to $22.78 after the company reported its net income for the third quarter dropped to $112 million U.S. or $0.17 U.S. per share from $171 million U.S. or $0.27 U.S. per share in the same quarter last year.

Lassonde Industries added 2.5% to $47.24 after the company posted third-quarter net earnings of $7.3 million or $1.10 per share, compared to $6.0 million or $0.90 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Telus dropped 1.2% to $33.57 after announcing third-quarter earnings fell to $0.88 from $0.89 a year ago.

The Canadian dollar was off 0.77 cents to 93.03 cents U.S.

ON BAYSTREET

Of the 14 TSX subgroups, 11 were in positive territory Friday. Gold was the leader, of course, shining 3.3% brighter, while consumer discretionary stocks progressed 2.3% and materials jumped 1.8%.

The losers were weighed by real-estate stocks, off 0.8%, consumer staples, off 0.1% and telecoms, sliding less than 0.1%.

The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 9.07 points to 1,340.62, while the Nasdaq Canada index finished 4.95 points in the black at 639.25.

ON WALLSTREET

In New York, stocks eked out an advance Friday, at the end of a volatile session in which the Dow industrials struggled to move beyond the 10,000 level after a weaker-than-expected October jobs report. Falling oil prices also played a role in the day's trading.

The Dow Jones Industrials nipped up 17.46 points to 10,023.42. The S&P 500 index strengthened 2.67 points to 1,069.30, while the Nasdaq composite index was up 7.12 points to 2,112.44.

Trading was very choppy Friday, with stocks slumping at the open and then seesawing for most of the session, before closing higher.

On Friday, the Labor Department had reported that payrolls fell by 190,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate rose to 10.2%.

Economists had expected the economy to have lost another 175,000 jobs last month and for the unemployment rate to rise to 9.9%, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

AIG, the insurance behemoth bailed out by the U.S. government, reported its second straight quarterly profit after seven quarters of losses.

Results were better than expected, but the company's main insurance businesses posted weaker revenue, sending shares lower Friday. AIG stock had rallied Thursday ahead of the results.

Starbucks posted weaker quarterly results that beat expectations in a report released late Thursday. The coffee retailer also boosted its outlook for 2010 profit, after having cut costs and shuttered hundreds of stores in the last year. Shares gained 4.3%.

Fannie Mae reported an almost-$19-billion-U.S. quarterly loss on bad loans. The biggest U.S. mortgage lender also said it would need more help from the Treasury. Shares fell 10%.

Dow component General Electric surged 6% after analysts at both Bernstein and Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to "outperform," according to reports.

Amazon.com surged after Bernstein upgraded it to "outperform" from "market perform," and also lifted its 12-month target price on the stock, according to Briefing.com.

Treasury prices resumed their upward trek, lowering the yields for the benchmark 10-year note to 3.50% from Thursday's 3.52%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The price of a barrel of oil lost $2.19 to $77.66 U.S.

Gold prices gained $7 to $1,096 U.S. an ounce.