Canada's main stock index opened lower on Friday, dragged by material-linked stocks and after stronger-than-expected jobs data from the United States further quashed hopes of an early rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The TSX Composite slumped 101.55 points to open Friday to 21,017.66.
The Canadian dollar stumbled 0.49 cents at 74.23 cents U.S.
OpenText reported its second-quarter results on Thursday that beat analysts' estimates. OpenText shares dropped $3.52, or 6%, to $55.52.
Imperial Oil is set to report its fourth-quarter results on Friday, whereas American oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil beat fourth-quarter profit expectations. IMO shares gained 86 cents, or 1.1%, to $77.47.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 0.98 points out of the starting blocks to 560.15.
All but one of the 12 subgroups were earthbound, with gold fading 3.6%, materials, dumping 2.4%, and real-estate fell 1%.
The lone holdout was information technology, up 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was marginally higher Friday as gains from fresh tech earnings were counterbalanced by a spike in Treasury yields spurred by strong economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrials docked 100.03 points to 38,419.81.
The S&P 500 index moved higher 17.09 points to 4,923.28.
The NASDAQ index climbed 116.01 points to 15,477.65.
Shares of Meta popped 17% after the social-media giant defied analysts’ expectations. The Facebook-parent also announced it will pay a quarterly dividend for the first time, and it authorized a $50-billion share buyback program. Amazon shares jumped 7% on fourth-quarter beats. However, Apple slid 2% after the company posted a decline in sales in China during the fiscal first quarter.
The moves follow a rebound session on Wall Street. The major averages gained around 1% each, a day after selling off on the back of the Federal Reserve signaling that a March rate cut was unlikely.
The report also included inflationary data in the form of greater-than-expected wage growth. Wages expanded by 4.5% year over year, more than a 4.1% forecast. This comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled this week that a March rate cut was unlikely.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury faded, hiking yields to 4.03% from Thursday’s 3.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $1.19 to $72.63 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices handed back $24.00 to $2,047.10.
