Canada's main stock index finished Friday on a solidly down note, as energy and tech stocks tumbled earthward following jobs reports from both sides of the border.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tumbled 60.5 points to end the day and the week at 15,946.17
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.16 cents to 77.23 cents U.S.
Canadian markets are closed Monday for Thanksgiving Day.
Among energy concerns, Suncor trailed Thursday’s close by $1.03, or 2%, to $50.65, while Canadian Natural Resources let go of 78 cents, or 1.9%, to $41.33.
Tech stocks were bruised, particularly BlackBerry, off 29 cents, or 2.2%, to $12.98, while Shopify plummeted $3.36, or 1.8%, to $188.89
In the real-estate sector, Colliers International Group faded $1.82, or 1.9%, to 92.69, while Brookfield Asset Management lost 22 cents to $56.10.
Industrials offered something positive out of the gloom, with Canadian Pacific Railway chugging along $5.81, or 2.1%, to $285.89, and rival Canadian National gaining 75 cents to $117.34
Health-care stocks struggled back into the green, with Aurora Cannabis popping 59 cents, or 4.9%, to $12.75.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 63,000 jobs in September, driven by an increase in part-time employment. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 5.9%.
Elsewhere, the agency said its Canada's merchandise trade balance with the world was in a surplus position for the first time since December 2016. The $526-million surplus followed a $189-million deficit in July. Imports fell 2.5% and exports were down 1.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange reversed gears and moved higher by day’s end, by 2.66 points to 705.69
All but three of the 12 subgroups were lower Friday, as energy stalled 1.6%, while information technology and real-estate each sank 0.8%.
The three gainers were industrials, or 0.6%, health-care, forging gains of 0.2%, and utilities, nicking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Friday after the release of mixed employment data jolted interest rates higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off its lows of the day, but still fell back 180.43 points to end the week at 26,447.05, as Intel and Caterpillar lagged. It also notched its second straight weekly decline.
The S&P 500 slouched 16.04 points to 2,885.57, as the tech sector underperformed. The broad index also fell nearly 1% this week, posting its worst weekly performance since the week of Sept. 7.
The NASDAQ declined 91.06 points, or 1.2%, to 7,788.45, as Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet all traded lower. For the week, the tech-heavy index fell 3.2% its biggest weekly drop since the week of March 23. It dropped 6.5% that week.
Bank stocks briefly traded higher before falling with the rest of the market. J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America both fell around 1%, while Citigroup slipped more than 0.5%. Banks typically benefit from higher rates as they make loans more profitable.
The U.S. economy added 134,000 in September, well below the expected gain of 185,000. However, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 1969.
Job gains for August also received a sharp upward revision to an addition of 270,000 jobs from 201,000. Wages, meanwhile, grew by 2.8% last month on a year-over-year basis to match expectations.
Other economic data released Friday include the U.S. trade deficit, which widened to $53.2 billion in August even amid an ongoing trade spat between the States and some of its key trade partners.
Over the past 12 months, the deficit is up $31 billion or 8.6%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury lost ground, raising yields to 3.23% from Thursday’s 3.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices revived four cents at $74.37 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $6.20 to $1,207.80 U.S. an ounce.
