Stock markets on both sides of the border were lower Friday as big disappointments from jobs numbers in both Canada and the United States raised fresh worries about the pace of the economic recovery.
The S&P/TSX index dropped 31.20 points to end the day at 12,331.85.
The Canadian dollar stepped back 0.39 cents at 98.36 cents U.S.
It was a tough week on the markets, with the TSX moving into the negative column for the year to date on worries about the pace of the U.S. economy and purchasing managers indexes from China that, while showing expansion, missed expectations. The market was down about 3.5% in the last week.
The resource-based TSX has been particularly pressured by mining stocks. Base metals are down 17.5% so far this year, reflecting weak commodity prices amid a slow global economic recovery. What’s more, the gold sector has fallen 22.2% as gold companies have suffered from bullion costs that haven’t kept pace with growing costs of getting the precious metal out of the ground.
Financials led the declines, amid signs of further weakness in the Canadian economy and concerns that interest rates will stay ultra-low for even longer than expected.
TD Bank fell $1.09 to $80.91 while Scotiabank gave back 84 cents to $56.90.
Defensive stocks also pushed the TSX lower.
The utilities group was down as Atlantic Power shed 11 cents to $4.88.
The consumer discretion group was down after clothing retailer Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. reported a net loss of $1.1 million or a penny per diluted share in its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter, reversing year-earlier profits of $4.7 million or seven cents per share.
Revenue for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 2 totaled $267.7 million, up three per cent from just under $260 million in the same quarter of fiscal 2012 and its shares dropped 37 cents to $9.37.
Commodity stocks turned positive after sustaining sharp declines earlier in the week.
The metals and mining sector led advancers, while May copper on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped a penny to $3.34 U.S. a pound. First Quantum Minerals gained 68 cents to $19.29.
Also helping minimize losses was a gain in the gold sector as the weak jobs data pushed bullion prices higher after a string of declines this week.
Goldcorp Inc. gained 38 cents to $32.33.
The energy sector was up while Canadian Natural Resources was 11 cents higher at $31.03.
Statistics Canada reported the economy shed 55,000 jobs — all full time — in March. The unemployment rate also rose by 0.2% to 7.2%. Generally speaking, economists had expected about 6,500 jobs to have been created last month.
Moreover, Canada's merchandise exports decreased 0.6% in February, while imports edged up 0.1%. So, our trade deficit with the world widened from $746 million in January to $1.0 billion in February.
Elsewhere, Canada’s Ivey purchasing managers’ index jumped to the highest in seven months, exceeding economist projections, as measures including inventories and employment showed expansion.
The index rose to 61.6 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the highest since August and up from 51.1 in February, according to a statement on the website of Western University’s business school.
Readings of more than 50 indicate an increase in purchasing by governments and companies. The reading exceeded the most optimistic forecasts of 14 economists.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 15.13 points to 1,041.85
The 14 Toronto subgroups were evenly split between gainers and losers on the day. Metals and mining proved the biggest gainer, at 1.9%, while global base metals grew 0.9%, and energy stocks prospered 0.7%.
The seven laggards were weighed mostly by financials, down 1%, utilities, off 0.6%, and consumer discretionary stocks, off 0.5%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks slumped Friday after a sorely disappointing jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended the day negative 40.86 points, to 14,565.20
The S&P 500 index slipped 6.70 points to 1,553.28. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite slumped 21.12 points to 3,203.86.
With the day's move down, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed out their worst week of the year. The S&P 500 dropped 1%, while the NASDAQ lost 2%. The Dow slipped 0.1% for the week, marking its second worst performance of the year.
Friday's selloff was broad-based, with about 60% of the Dow's 30 components ending in the red. Technology stocks were among the biggest losers, after a leader in the networking equipment sector warned of a weak quarter ahead.
Shares of F5 Networks plunged 19% after the technology company announced preliminary quarterly earnings and sales that fell well short of expectations. F5 competitors Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks were also under pressure.
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics said its first-quarter sales and earnings would be better than forecasts. Hopes are also high for Samsung's latest Galaxy smartphone. The Galaxy S4 could present more competition to iPhone maker Apple, which is back near its 52-week low.
On the economic slate, the U.S. Labor Department's monthly report showed that the economy added only 88,000 jobs in March, the lowest monthly gain since last June and far below expectations. Economists had expected a gain of 190,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate slipped to 7.6%, but that was also bad news because nearly 500,000 people dropped out of the labour market.
The labour force participation rate, which measures how many people are employed or looking for jobs, fell to 63.3% -- its lowest level since May 1979.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained, lowering yields to 1.69% from Thursday’s 1.77%. Treasury prices yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 28 cents to $92.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $25.60 to $1,577.40 U.S. an ounce.
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