Equities in Toronto fell on Friday as the health-care and tech groups lost ground, while gold mining shares climbed after escalating geopolitical tensions boosted gold prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained negative 7.14 points to greet noon at 15,690.04
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.14 cents at 74.66 cents U.S.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added strength
Barrick Gold Corp rose 1% to $26.12. Barrick's near billion-dollar deal with Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd represents a rich premium for the miner, while making good on a long-promised plan to forge deep, long-lasting partnerships with China.
Among health-care losers, Canopy Growth sank 18 cents, or 1.8%, to $10.12, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals jettisoned 17 cents, or 1.3%, to $12.72.
Tech stocks dipped, as BlackBerry dropped 12 cents, or 1.1%, to $10.52.
Financials also fared poorly, as Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.6% to $97.23, while Manulife Financial lost 0.9% to $23.18.
Bank of Montreal, Canada's fourth-biggest lender, said its Chief Operating Officer Darryl White will step up to be chief executive in November, succeeding Bill Downe who will retire.
BMO's shares dipped 0.2% to $99.76.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that our economy added only 19,000 jobs in March, moving the unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage points to 6.7%, as more people searched for work.
Elsewhere, Western University’s IVEY School of Management revealed its Purchasing Managers’ Index ballooned to 61.1 in March from 55 in February and 50.1 in March 2016.
The survey asks company purchasing managers whether their expenditures grew, fell or stayed the same each month. Any reading over 50 suggests expansion in the market, under 50, contraction.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 4.3 points to 826.15
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly divided between gainers and losers, as gold heightened 1.4%, materials gained 0.6%, and telecoms took on 0.3%.
The half-dozen laggards were weighed most by health-care and information technology, each clicking lower 0.5%, and industrials, down 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks alternated between gains and losses on Friday as investors parsed through a mixed employment report and digested a U.S. airstrike in Syria.
The Dow Jones Industrials squeezed ahead 0.29 points to 20,663.24, with Wal-Mart leading advancers and Goldman Sachs lagging.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.84 points to 2,356.65, with telecommunications leading eight sectors higher and financials underperforming.
The NASDAQ Composite dipped 4.54 points to 5,874.41
The U.S. economy added 98,000 jobs last month, well below the expected gain of 180,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.5% from 4.7%. Wage growth was not as strong either, with average hourly earnings up by 2.7% on an annualized basis.
The missiles targeted the Shayrat air base near Homs, and were in response to a Tuesday chemical weapons attack. Officially announcing the strike, President Donald Trump said the targeted airfield had launched the chemical attack on a rebel-held area, and he called on other nations to oppose Syria's embattled leader.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.33% from Thursday’s 2.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 50 cents at $52.20 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices went up $14.40 at $1,267.70 U.S. an ounce.
