The Toronto stock market was slightly lower at the open and the Canadian dollar surged almost a full U.S. cent after American job creation narrowly missed expectations. The data encouraged further speculation about whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to wind up a key stimulus measure.
The S&P/TSX composite index opened Friday down 22.64 points to 12,822.42
The Canadian dollar strengthened nearly a full cent to 96.18 cents U.S.
Tech shares stumbled out of the gate, most notably BlackBerry, down nearly 2% to $11.37. Health-care issues also had a rough go of it, weighed mostly by shares of Catamaran, down 2% to $57.79.
Lifting the market up were gold stocks, led by Perseus Mining, up 4.9% to 64 cents, while Iamgold climbed 2.4% to $6.29, and Barrick Gold added 1.2% to $20.18.
On the economic calendar for today, Statistics Canada reported that the economy added 59,000 jobs during August, mainly part-time, pushing the unemployment rate down a 10th of a percentage point to 7.1%.
Over the six months leading up to August, however, employment gains averaged 12,000 per month, lower than the average of 29,000 observed during the preceding six-month period.
Moreover, Western University’s Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in August stood at 51.0. The corresponding Ivey PMI figure for July 2013 was 48.4, for August 2012 was 62.5 and for August 2011 was 56.4.
The survey aims to answer whether manufacturers' purchases last month were higher, the same, or lower than the previous month. A figure above 50 shows an increase while below 50 shows a decrease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched higher 1.17 points to 948.95
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups began the day down, weighed mostly by information technology issues, down 1.2%, while health-care and consumer discretionary stocks lost 0.8% each.
The half-dozen gainers were led by gold, up 1.6%, metals and mining, up 1.4%, and materials, ahead 1.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Investors initially warmed to jobs numbers early Friday, but remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin put a chill in the air.
The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 99.45 points to 14,838
The S&P 500 index dropped 11.03 points to 1,644.05. The NASDAQ lost 17.74 points to 3,641.04
Putin, at G20 meetings in St. Petersburg, Russia, reiterated that he and U.S. President Obama remain at loggerheads over Syria.
Russia, a determined ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has challenged assertions that Syrian forces have used chemical weapons, killing rebel fighters and civilians.
Smith & Wesson shares tumbled after the gun maker reported a disappointing outlook for the current quarter.
Smithfield Foods shares edged lower after the meat processor posted a drop in earnings due to weak exports to Japan, China and Russia. The company announced an agreement earlier this year to be acquired by China's Shuanghui International, a deal now awaiting approval from the U.S. government.
Economically, the U.S. economy added 169,000 jobs last month, fewer than the 185,000 economists surveyed were forecasting. The unemployment rate ticked lower to 7.3%, as expected, but the drop was due to a falling labour force participation rate. Job gains for both June and July were also revised lower.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury spiked, lowering yields to 2.90% from Thursday’s 2.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired $1.10 to $109.47 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices were $16 brighter, at $1,369 U.S. an ounce.
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