Stocks ended a nightmare week with more loss spread over a broad base of stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite finished lower Friday 62.89 points to 20,633.28, the decline on the week being 129 points, or 0.62%.
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.37 cents at 77.59 cents U.S.
Techs suffered the hardest blows, with Shopify wounded $39.57, or 7.5%, to $490.06, while Dye & Durham lost $1.21, or 6.6%, to $17.27.
In the real-estate sector, Tricon Capital fell 40 cents, or 2.4%, to $16.62, while Granite REIT subtracted $2.53, or 2.8%, to $86.93.
Health-care stocks also too their knocks, with Bausch Health off 89 cents, or 4.1%, to $20.62, while Aurora Cannabis slid 12 cents, or 3.2%, to $3.61.
Utilities tried to restore some balance, with Transalta Renewables gaining 34 cents, or 2.4%, to $14.11, while Fortis added $1.35, or 2.2%, to $63.01.
In communications, TELUS jumped 70 cents, or 2.2%, to $32.33, while Shaw picked up 52 cents, or 1.4%, to $37.58.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada revealed employment was little changed in April after two consecutive months of growth. The agency also said the unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 5.2%.
Elsewhere, the IVEY Purchasing Managers Index withered to 66.3 in April from 74.2 in March, but improved on the 60.6 figure from April 2021.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange handed over 13.72 points, or 1.8%, to 769.97, for a weekly loss of almost 44 points, or 5.4%.
All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups finished the day pointed downward, with information technology skidding 2.4%, health-care off 1.7%, and real-estate down 1.2%.
Only utilities, which sprouted 0.7%, and communications, which took on 0.4%, held out against the negative tide.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks lost ground in volatile trading on Friday, as investors struggled to find support after the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its worst day since 2020.
The 30-stock index staggered 98.6 points to 32,899.37. The loss on the week was almost 550, or 1.6%.
The S&P 500 slid 23.53 points to 4,123.34, to go down on the week 81 points, or 1.9%.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 173.03 points, or 1.4%, to 12,144.66. Over the last five session, the loss of 454 points, or 3.6%.
The largest stocks in the market shuffled between gains and losses on Friday.
Energy was a bright spot for the market, with EOG Resources jumping 5%. Oil prices rose again on Friday, which is a positive for energy stocks but is leading to worries about slowing economic growth and higher inflation.
On the earnings front, shares of Under Armour dropped more than 22% after the apparel company missed estimates on the top and bottom lines. That appeared to hurt rival Nike, whose shares dropped about 4% and weighed on the Dow.
Thursday’s -- and Friday’s -- losses erased Wednesday’s big post-Federal Reserve meeting rally. Fed Chair Jerome Powell ruled out the prospect of larger rate hikes on Wednesday, sending the S&P 500 and the Dow to their best daily gains since 2020.
The losses came despite an April jobs report that showed a gain of 428,000 jobs, more than the 400,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Elsewhere in economic data, the Fed’s consumer credit data showed an increase of $52.4 billion in March, more than double what economists expected, according to Dow Jones.
Treasury prices jumped sharply, with yields falling to 3.13% from Thursday’s 3.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $2.24 to $110.50 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $6.50 to $1,882.20 U.S. an ounce.
