TSX ends up 0.05% at 25,691.8
Eclipses Thursday's record closing high
Technology adds 1.78%
Energy falls 2%
Updates at market close
By Fergal Smith
Dec 6 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose to a new record high on Friday, led by technology shares, as bond yields fell in anticipation of another outsized interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended up 11.76 points, or 0.05%, at 25,691.8, moving past the record closing high it posted on Thursday.
For the week, the index was up 0.22%, its fifth straight weekly advance.
Investors assessed U.S. and Canadian employment data for November. Canada's unemployment rate rose to 6.8%, a near-eight-year high outside of the pandemic era, while U.S. job growth surged after being severely hindered by hurricanes and strikes.
"Even though we're getting some vibes of recession in Canada, the U.S. jobs number was very robust and the Canadian number is a worry for another day," said Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer at Baskin Wealth Management. "Rate cuts at least make stocks look that more attractive."
Investors raised bets on a half-percentage-point interest rate cut from the BoC on Dec. 11 after the bank cut by that magnitude in October, while the Canadian 10-year yield CA10YT=RR touched its lowest level in two months at 2.978%.
Lower long-term rates increase the value to investors of the future cash flows that companies in high-growth sectors such as technology are expected to produce.
The technology index .SPTTTK rose 1.78%, with shares of e-commerce company Shopify Inc SHOP.TO up 4.67%.
Shares of Bank of Montreal BMO.TO were up 4.72% after Scotiabank raised its target price on the stock. Heavily weighted financials .SPTTFS ended up 0.39%.
BRP Inc DOO.TO was a standout. Its shares rose 6.9% after the power sports products company reported third-quarter earnings that beat estimates.
Declines for energy, however, helped limit the TSX's advance. The sector .SPTTEN fell 2% as fear of a supply glut weighed on oil prices.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma and Ragini Mathur; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Jonathan Oatis)
((fergal.smith@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647 480 7446))
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