Canada's main stock index fell on Friday, as a dive in the Turkish lira left investors scurrying for safer assets such as the U.S. dollar, yen and U.S. government bonds.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index let go of 103.57 points to greet noon at 16,313.41
The Canadian dollar lost 0.43 cents at 76.18 cents U.S.
At current levels, the index is set to end a short week 0.5% lower, markets having been closed on Monday’s for Civic Holiday
Top percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of Pretium Resources which jumped $1.91, or 18.8% to $12.07, and Ritchie Bros, which rose $4.79, or 10.6% to $50.18, after reporting strong second-quarter results.
Nuvista Energy fell 75 cents, or 8.7% to $7.86, top laggard on the TSX, after acquiring assets in the Pipestone area of northwest Alberta.
The second-biggest decliner was Uni-Select Inc, down $1.03, or 4.7%, to $20.77, after posting second-quarter results.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said the economy created 54,000 jobs in July, dropping the unemployment rate by 0.2 percentage points to 5.8%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange backpedaled 2.73 points to 696.96
All but two of the 12 subgroups were lower by noon hour, with consumer staples slumping 1.6%, health-care ailing 1.5%, and telecoms off 1.1%.
The two gainers were gold and information technology, each up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Friday as geopolitical concerns pushed the Turkish lira to a record low against the U.S. dollar.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slouched 177.14 points to 25,332.09, as Intel declined.
The S&P 500 fell 14.96 points to 2,838.62, as financials lagged
The NASDAQ dropped 27.82 points to 7,863.96.
Friday's drop comes a day after the NASDAQ scored its longest winning streak in close to a year, boosted by positive trade out of tech stocks including Amazon and Apple.
Intel shares declined nearly 3% after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the chipmaker, citing manufacturing issues.
Bank shares led the way lower in the U.S. as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all dropped more than 1%. Tech shares also fell as Facebook, Alphabet and Amazon all declined.
The lira fell 20% after President Donald Trump authorized the doubling of metals tariffs on Turkey.
Trump's comment came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked citizens to "change the euros, the dollars and the gold that you are keeping beneath your pillows into lira," noting this is "a domestic and national struggle."
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% last month, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday. Meanwhile, "core CPI" hit 2.4% in July, that figure’s highest since September 2008.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained sharply, lowering yields to 2.88% from Thursday’s 2.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions
Oil prices gained 83 cents to $67.64 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were unchanged to $1,219.90 U.S. an ounce.
