Markets in Canada’s largest centre turned tail and ran Friday, in light of weak employment numbers.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index plummeted 140.36 points, or 1.2%, to begin trading Friday at 11,676.67
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.27 cents at 98.59 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Pengrowth Energy Corp. is reducing its monthly dividend payments to shareholders by 43% to four cents a share starting next month. The Calgary-based company says it’s making the change due to weak commodity prices and increased uncertainty in the capital and property markets.
Canadian Pacific Railway says Tony Ingram has resigned as a director, the third departure from the CP board since the Calgary-based company's annual meeting in May. As a result of the departures and the addition of Hunter Harrison as director and chief executive officer of the company, the nominees put forward by Pershing Square have a majority on the 14-member board of directors.
Network technology company Sandvine Corp. had a loss of $4.2 million U.S. or three cents a share in its second quarter. But the bad news was tempered by more than $2 million in orders from one of the top 10 telecom providers in the United States, but it didn’t identify the customer. Sandvine had $18.6 million U.S. in revenue for the three-month period.
Economically speaking, figures released by Statistics Canada showed that in June, employment was little changed for the second consecutive month and the unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 7.2%, as fewer people searched for work.
Compared to June 2011, employment increased 1.0% or 181,000. At the same time, full-time work was up 222,000, up 1.6%, while part-time work was little changed.
Elsewhere, the agency said that building permits were up 7.4% to $7.0 billion in May, a five-year high.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 17.54 points to 1,208.91. The Nasdaq Canada index fell 5.45 points to 353.87.
All 14 Toronto subgroups were negative at the start, weighed down by metals and mining, off 3.1%, global base metals, down 2.4%, and energy, sliding 2.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks dropped sharply Friday, after the government released an underwhelming monthly jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 138.35 points, or 1.1%, to 12,758.32
The S&P 500 shrank 13.88 points to 1,353.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 33.98 points to 2,942.14
Economically speaking, the U.S. Labor Department's jobs report, which showed that the economy added just 80,000 jobs in June, came in below expectations and points to signs of a deceleration in employment growth.
After a string of weak monthly jobs numbers and an unemployment rate unchanged at 8.2%, Friday's report will likely fuel argument for increased intervention by the Federal Reserve.
Still, investors are wary that the jobs numbers may not have been weak enough to spur the central bank into action when its governors meet at the end of July.
Meanwhile, governments around the world have increasingly become dependent upon action by their central banks as the global fiscal crisis continues.
International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde said debt problems have spilled over borders. In her speech on Friday in Japan, Lagarde said the IMF will revise down its next global forecast, due in 10 days.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.55% from 1.60% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for August delivery backtracked $2.48 to $84.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery dropped $22.10 to $1,587.30 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
