Equities in Toronto were lower Friday, failing to catch a lift from a mixed American employment report as investors continued to shed financials on worries about how the collapse in oil prices could impact the big banks.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 72.80 points to end the first full week of the year at 14,384.92
The Canadian dollar faded 0.28 cents to 84.26 cents U.S.
The TSX had racked up solid gains the previous two sessions but is set to close out the first full week of 2015 trading with a loss, led by a hefty drop in the energy sector as oil prices continued to look for a bottom.
Prices have plunged more than 50% from mid-2014 highs and are down 8% just since Dec. 31 as the global economy works through a huge oversupply of crude, a situation analysts believe will take months to sort out.
However, the TSX energy sector was positive Friday afternoon, even though Suncor gave back 31 cents to $35.67. Canadian Natural Resources added 11 cents to $33.21
The financials were also a major drag Friday, heading for a 5% drop this week. The collapse in oil prices leaves investors wondering how banks will be impacted but there other things worrying traders as well.
TD shares forfeited 75 cents to $52.48, and Scotiabank demurred $1.22 to $62.96.
The base metals group was lower as March copper lost two cents to $2.75 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources backslid 11 cents to $16.16
The gold sector ran ahead as Goldcorp surged $1.20, or 5.1%, to $24.57, and Agnico-Eagle Mines leaped $2.09, or 6.3%, to $35.22
Elsewhere on the TSX, TransCanada Corp. was ahead 36 cents to $55.29 after a Nebraska court struck down a lower-court decision that had been one of the barriers to the stalled Keystone XL pipeline.
The end of the Nebraska case means President Barack Obama can soon wrap up his administration's review into the $8-billion pipeline, which has become a major irritant in Canada-U.S. relations.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the economy lost 4,300 jobs in December as gains in full-time work were offset by losses in part time. The unemployment rate remained at 6.6%.
The agency also said building permits were issued worth $6.6 billion in November, down 13.8% from October, following two consecutive monthly increases.
StatsCan attributes the drop to widespread declines in both the non-residential and residential sectors in several provinces.
Moreover, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that housing starts in Canada came in at 192,047 units in December compared to 194,807 in November.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 0.27 points to 687.21
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower, as financials and consumer staples each gave back 1.5%, and health-care was 1% less hale.
The five gainers were led by gold, up 4%, materials, up 1.3%, and energy, inching up 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks dropped on Friday, pulling benchmarks back into the red for the year, as the December jobs report topped expectations but hourly earnings declined, and investors tracked events in France after Wednesday's massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 170.50 points, or nearly 1%, to 17,737.37, after Thursday’s 300-point-plus leap, with Chevron leading blue-chip declines that extended to 24 of 30 components.
The S&P 500 subtracted 17.33 points to 2,044.81, with all of its 10 major industry groups in the red.
The NASDAQ index backtracked 32.12 points to 4,704.07.
The figures from the U.S. Labor Department had the economy adding 252,000 to payrolls last month, and prompted stock-index futures to reverse higher ahead of the open.
But the enthusiasm proved short lived, in light of the earnings figures.
Another economic report had wholesale inventories climbing 0.8 percent in November, above estimates
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries eked up, lowering yields to 1.97% from Thursday’s 2.02%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 50 cents per barrel to $48.29 U.S.
Gold prices added $10.00 an ounce at $1,218.50 U.S.
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