Markets in Toronto fell more than 1% shortly after the open on Friday, following U.S. payrolls data for September that fell well below forecasts, raising doubts about the strength of the economy of Canada's biggest trading partner.
The S&P/TSX composite index descended 127.64 points, or 1%, to begin Friday at 13,114.75
The Canadian dollar gained 0.23 cents at 75.59 cents U.S.
Enbridge Inc’s long-awaited start of its Line 9 oil pipeline to Montreal will allow Quebec refineries to run on 100% cheap North American inland crude, leaving around 100,000 barrels per day of foreign crude searching for a new home.
The Calgary-based energy company received approval from regulators on Wednesday to finally start operating the 300,000 bpd pipeline carrying mainly light crude from Sarnia, Ontario, to Montreal, Quebec, nearly a year after it was first expected in service.
Enbridge shares dipped five cents to $49.42.
National Bank Financial cut the rating on First National Financial Corp. to sector perform from outperform citing the bearish sentiment towards the Canadian housing market.
First National shares skidded 48 cents, or 2.2%, to $21.45.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.16 points to 524.73
All but three of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower to begin the session, with financials sliding 2.3%, health-care sicker by 1%, and consumer discretionary stocks weaker 0.9%.
Gold led the three gainers, brighter by 5.2%, materials were up 2.8%, and metals and mining gained 2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded sharply lower Friday as Wall Street digested a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones industrial average collapsed 248.17 points, or 1.5%, to 16,023.84, with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs leading all blue chips lower.
The S&P 500 dropped 28 points, or 1.5%, to 1,895.82, below the psychologically key level of 1,900, with financials falling more than 2.5% to lead nine sectors lower. Utilities were the only advancer.
The NASDAQ index went south 66.11 points, or 1.4%, to 4,560.97. Apple declined more than 1.5%.
The U.S. economy created 142,000 jobs in September, a number far below the expected 203,000 and could cool expectations that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates soon. August and July figures were also revised lower.
Experts are predicting that the first rate hike will come no earlier than March 2016.
Unemployment held at 5.1%, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The participation rate plunged to 62.4%.
Average hourly wages fell by a cent to $25.09 U.S. during the month and were up only 2.2% from the same month in 2014, pointing to marginal inflationary pressures, Reuters said.
Elsewhere, factory orders showed a decline of 1.7% in August, a slightly greater-than-expected decline.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained sharply, hammering yields to 1.92%, compared to Thursday’s 2.04%. Treasury price and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices demurred 31 cents a barrel to $44.23 U.S.
Gold prices hurtled higher $26.18 to $1,139.79 U.S. an ounce.
