Canadian stocks dropped Friday, with energy and metals issues selling off following weak U.S. labour market data, capping the market’s worst weekly performance in about five months.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell another 143.67 points, or 1.2%, to close the week at 11,871.23
The Canadian dollar shed 0.70 cents to 100.44 cents U.S.
Among energy issues, shares of Talisman Energy fell 1.8% to close at $11.54. Suncor Energy Inc. shed 3.6% to $30.19 and EnCana gained 0.7% to $20.78.
Meanwhile, demand concerns about industrial metal copper helped push July copper down about 1%, and July platinum gave up 0.7%. Palladium for
June delivery fell more than 1%.
Shares of Teck Resources Ltd. fell 1.6% to $34.79, Lundin Mining declined 5% to $4.56 and Inmet Mining gave up 2.5% to $50.25.
Among volume leaders, Canadian Natural Resources shares fell 3.7% to $31.71. The energy company late Thursday reported a 43% drop in first-quarter revenue due to tough market conditions, and earnings missed expectations. The company also cut its quarterly dividend in half.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 11.44 points to 1,405.10, while the Nasdaq Canada fell 4.71 points to 389.74.
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were weaker on the day. Metals and mining issues ducked back 3.1%, energy stocks were off 2.7%, and global base metals fell 2.1%.
The two gainers were gold, up 1.2%, while health-care improved 0.3%. Real-estate issues were flat Friday.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks sold off Friday after a government report showed that employers added fewer-than-expected jobs in April.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 168.32 points, or 1.3%, to 13,038.27.
The S&P 500 tripped 22.48 points to 1,369.09
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 67.96 to 2,956.34.
Stocks ended the week lower, after posting two consecutive weekly gains. For the week, the S&P 500 endured a loss of 2.3%.
The energy sector was under pressure as oil prices fell 4.4% to below $100 U.S. barrel. Exxon and Chevron were among the worst performers on the Dow.
Facebook set a price range Thursday of $28 to $35 U.S. per share for its initial public offering. The company also upped the maximum size of its offering to $13.6 billion U.S., up from its previous $5-billion U.S. estimate.
First Solar shares fell after the company reported a steep quarterly loss late Thursday related to restructuring and announced a new CEO.
AIG shares fell despite earnings that came in well ahead of analyst expectations late Thursday.
Chesapeake Energy shares rose after the company confirmed that it's facing an inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission in the wake of revelations about CEO Aubrey McClendon's controversial compensation program.
LinkedIn shares jumped after the social media company reported strong earnings and revenue that doubled versus last year.
On the economic slate, the jobs report showed a net gain of 115,000 jobs, far less than the 160,000 forecast by economists. However, upward revisions to the February and March jobs figures and a drop in the unemployment rate to 8.1% may temper some of investors' disappointment in the report.
As the economy slows, investors have been anticipating more action from the Federal Reserve. In particular, some investors expect the central bank to launch a third round of bond purchases, a policy known as quantitative easing.
Friday's jobs report was not weak enough to justify so-called QE3, said one expert, who also said it could prompt the Fed to extend a program called Operation Twist, which is set to wind down soon.
Under Operation Twist, the central bank has been using the proceeds from assets in its portfolio to buy longer-term Treasury debt. The goal is to pump money into the economy without expanding the Fed's balance sheet.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged higher, pushing the yield down to 1.88% from Thursday’s 1.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil fell $3.99 to $98.55 U.S.
Gold futures for June delivery rose $3.20 to $1,638.00 U.S. an ounce.
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