Everything You Need to Know on Friday: Swaps Data Shows Chances of a BOC Rate Cut in June Drops Below 50%, Following Employment Data

Good morning mooers! Here are things you need to know about today's market:

● S&P/TSX 60 Index Standard Futures are trading at 1,353.50, up 0.70%

● Swaps data shows chances of a BOC rate cut in June drops below 50%, following employment data

● Bank of Canada signals that bets tied to timing of rate cuts are boosting leverage in some markets

● Enbridge rises on Q1 earnings beat, reaffirming of financial guidance

● Manulife cuts lower growth assets, increases share buybacks

Today, the Canadian dollar is trading at 72.95 cents US, a slight increase from Thursday.

The S&P/TSX 60 Index Standard Futures (SXF) are currently trading at 1,353.50, which is up 0.07% from the previous close.

Statistics Canada reports a rise in employment with 90,000 new jobs in April, while the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 6.1%. Today's release of the labor force survey indicates that the increase in jobs was primarily in part-time positions.

Job growth was seen in sectors such as professional, scientific and technical services, accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, and natural resources, with a decline noted in the utilities sector. Wage growth experienced a deceleration, with a yearly increase rate of 4.7% in April, a drop from March's 5.1% rate.

The Bank of Canada will be considering this latest employment data as it prepares for the upcoming rate decision in the following month.

Officials at the Bank of Canada are keeping an eye on areas of rising debt and overvalued assets that could destabilize the financial system if prices fluctuate sharply. However, they do not anticipate a crisis like that of 2008. In its yearly review of the nation's financial health, published Thursday, the central bank highlighted a significant rise in borrowing within the Canadian bond and repurchase markets by hedge funds. This increase seems to be influenced by tactics betting on when and how much interest rates will be reduced.

"We pointed it out … not necessarily with the intention of saying you should stop doing it because there's some value in having a good futures market, you create liquidity in normal times," senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers said in interview. "But the action that we would hope would come out of us featuring it and talking about it is that these institutions run stress tests and make sure that their margins are big enough to account for large swings in price."

The company reported that profits for shareholders came in at $1.42 billion, or 67 cents per share, for the quarter ending March 31, which was lower than the $1.73 billion, or 86 cents per share, recorded in the same period last year.

However, on an adjusted basis, Enbridge reported earnings of 92 cents per share for the recent quarter, an increase from 85 cents per share in the first quarter of the previous year. Enbridge's CEO, Greg Ebel, stated that the company achieved record financial results for the quarter thanks to strong operational performance and strategic execution.

On Thursday, the company indicated its intention to boost its share buyback activity from the $200 million executed in the first quarter to approximately $600 million each quarter for the remainder of the year. This strategy is an extension of the approximate $5.5 billion in share repurchases it has conducted over the previous five years.

This strategic shift follows a period in which the insurance heavyweight completed a significant transaction to shed investments with limited growth prospects and revealed a second transaction that was finalized in early April.

The initial transaction was a reinsurance agreement valued at $13 billion, including an unprecedentedly large long-term care segment within the insurance sector. The subsequent deal represented the most substantial universal life reinsurance transaction ever in Canada.