Equities in Canada’s largest market moved downward on Friday … their fifth straight day of declines, as mining and energy stocks dominated the retreat and with investors cautious over the impact of Hurricane Irma, which was headed toward Florida.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 39.21 points to conclude the day and a short week at 14,985.32
Markets in North America were closed Monday for Labour Day
The Canadian dollar tailed off 0.14 cents to 82.35 cents U.S., after several consecutive upward days.
Energy stocks retreated, as Encana was down 41 cents, or 3.5%, to $11.22, while heavyweight Suncor dropped 12 cents to $39.75.
Among the biggest drags on the index were mining stocks, with Teck Resources falling $1.57, or 5.3% to $28.26, and First Quantum Minerals off 51 cents, or 3.6%, to $13.80.
Among gold stocks, IAMGOLD got rocked 20 cents, or 2.3%, to $8.53, while Kinross Gold lost seven cents, or 1.2%, to $5.86.
Health-care led the gainers, as GLG Life Tech advanced three cents, or 3.8% to 82 cents, while Canopy Growth added 17 cents, or 1.9%, to $9.18.
Among consumer discretionary issues, Dollarama strengthened $4.55, or 3.5%, to $139.37. Among telecoms, BCE gained five cents to $58.19.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported Friday that the economy created 22,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage points to 6.2%, matching the most recent low of October 2008, the month prior to the 2008-2009 labour-market downturn.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.03 points to 772.02
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were up on the day, as health-care jumped 0.6%, while consumer discretionary and telecoms each gained 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed most heavily energy, sliding 1.4%, materials, down 1.2%, and gold, fading in luster 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Major U.S. equity indexes posted weekly declines as Hurricane Irma barreled toward the east coast while interest rates hampered financial stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their lows of the day, but still finished positive 13.01 points to 21,797.79, with Travelers Companies and Boeing contributing the most to the gains.
The S&P 500 lost 3.67 points to 2,461.43, with energy and information technology contributing the largest losses
The NASDAQ retreated 37.68 points to 6,360.19, with large-cap stocks Apple and Google-parent Alphabet both down.
The Dow fell 189.77 points for the week while the S&P 500 fell 0.6% over the same period. The NASDAQ dropped about 1.2% since Tuesday.
Shares of major insurance companies fell, days ahead of Hurricane Irma's landfall in Florida, but managed to clinch a solid rebound Friday afternoon. XL Group and RenaissanceRe traded 5.8% and 4.1% higher, but remained 5% and 6.4% lower for the week, respectively.
Restaurant companies including Fiesta Restaurant Group and Ruth's Hospitality Group, which operates Ruth's Chris Steak House, also posted week-to-date declines. Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin' Brands fell 2.7% since Tuesday.
Irma was downgraded from a category 5 to a category 4 early on Friday, but the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned that the storm will "devastate" parts of the country, reported Reuters. The storm lashed the Caribbean with devastating winds and torrential rain, leaving behind 14 deaths and a swathe of catastrophic destruction.
Home improvement and materials companies surged ahead of the storm's projected destruction in Florida. Home Depot climbed 1.1% and Lowe's added 1.1% on Friday, while Lumber Liquidators' stock added another 1.9% to its weekly gains.
Bank stocks caught a breather after falling throughout the week, as demand for safe haven assets steadily increased while investors grew more doubtful over a hike in interest rates by year's end.
Shares of both U.S. Bancorp and Citigroup rose, paring back week-to-date losses
Meanwhile, shares of Equifax fell more than 13% after the credit reporting agency revealed a massive data breach that exposed personal information of as many as 143 million consumers. The company also said three executives who sold shares days after the breach was discovered were unaware of the event.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note lost strength, upping yields to 2.06% from Thursday’s 2.05%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices tumbled $1.52 to $47.57
Gold prices hiked one dollar to $1,351.30 U.S. an ounce.
