Canadian stocks fell a third day on Friday as strong jobs data in the U.S. intensified speculation the Federal Reserve will increase rates at its December meeting and TransCanada Corp. led energy shares lower after the U.S. government rejected the Keystone XL pipeline.
The S&P/TSX composite index sank 5.48 points to end the day and the week at 13,553.30
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.73 cents at 75.21 cents U.S.
TransCanada declined 4.3% to $43.32, after U.S. President Barack Obama ended seven years of debate over the Keystone pipeline by rejecting an infrastructure project that swelled into one of the most contentious environmental issues of his presidency.
TransCanada has slumped 24% this year, amid an 18% retreat in the S&P/TSX Energy Index. The proposed cross- border pipeline, which would have carried Canadian oil sands to U.S. refineries near the Gulf of Mexico, soured diplomatic relations between Obama and Canada’s previous Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The incoming Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau is much less wedded to the project.
TMX Group Ltd., owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, added 4.5% to $48.55, after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter revenue.
Magna International, the largest North American auto-parts supplier, rose 2.7% to $64.13, after slumping the most since 2011 Thursday on weaker quarterly sales.
Telus retreated 1% to $41.51, after declaring it will cut 1,500 jobs to reduce costs.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 5.6% to $109.19, rebounding from a 2013 low. The drugmaker has lost 68% from an Aug. 5 high amid pressure over how it prices its drugs.
Valeant, briefly the largest stock in the S&P/TSX by market capitalization earlier this year, plunged a record 49% in October as short-seller Citron Research accused Valeant of an Enron-like strategy of recording fake sales using an affiliated pharmacy. Valeant denied the allegation.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 44,000 jobs in October, bringing the number of people employed in Canada to over 18 million for the first time. The unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage points to 7.0%.
The agency also stated that building permits in September totaled $7.1 billion in September, down 6.7% from the previous month. This was the second consecutive monthly decline. Lower construction intentions for residential buildings and commercial structures in Ontario largely explained the decline.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 5.3 points to 534.28
All but four of the 13 TSX subgroups were lower, with gold dropping 3.3%, materials down 1.5%, and consumer staples fading 1%.
The four gainers were led by health-care, moving up 1.3%, financials, picking up 0.9%, and consumer discretionary stocks, ahead 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed mixed Friday, but holding solid gains for the week after a better-than-expected October jobs report increased confidence in the likelihood of a December rate hike.
The Dow Jones industrial average moved higher 46.9 points to end the week at 17,910.33, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most to gains. UnitedHealth was the greatest weight.
The S&P 500 slipped 2.41 points to 2,097.52. Financials traded about 1% higher after briefly rising more than 1.5% to lead advancers in the S&P 500, while utilities fell more than 3.5%.
The NASDAQ index boosted 15.21 points to 5,142.95
Despite mixed performance Friday, the three major indexes were on pace for gains of nearly 1% or more for the week, their sixth straight week of gains. That is the longest win streak for the major averages since late last year.
The report showed the addition of 271,000 jobs, soundly betting expectations of about 180,000, with the unemployment rate ticking lower to 5%.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell sharply, raising yields to 2.33% from Thursday’s 2.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in
opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 75 cents a barrel to $44.45 U.S.
Gold prices slid $15.54 to $1,088.38 U.S. an ounce.
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