Canada’s main stock index lost ground in early trade on Friday, weighed by losses among its health-care and gold sectors as oil and gas prices also fell.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave back 27.94 points, after a big gain Thursday, to open Friday at 15,183.93
The Canadian dollar added 0.45 cents to 80.57 cents U.S.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals led health-care stocks down on the scale, descending 48 cents, or 2.9%, to $16.31, though Canopy Growth Corporation inched up three cents to $8.99.
In the gold sector – which also got a bit bruised – Goldcorp lost 23 cents, or 1.3%, to $16.93, while Barrick Gold shed 28 cents, or 1.2%, to $22.21.
Canada's National Energy Board said Thursday it will hold a series of public hearings beginning this year to determine the route for Kinder Morgan Inc's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Kinder shares dipped 14 cents to $17.20.
Mexico and Canada would remain in the North American Free Trade Agreement even if the Trump administration abandoned the accord, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Thursday.
TD Securities raised the price target on Canadian Western Bank to $32.00 from $30.00.
Western shares picked up 47 cents, or 1.6%, to $29.47.
KBW raised the target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank to $70.00 from $68.00. TD shares improved 30 cents to $67.36.
On the economic schedule, the headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 54.6 in August, to remain above the neutral 50.0 threshold for the 18th consecutive month. Although down slightly from 55.5 in July, the index signaled a rate of improvement that remained above the long-run series average
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 1.14 points to 777.99
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour of trading, with health-care down 1.3%, gold reversing 0.6%, and consumer staples off 0.5%.
The lone gainer in the first hour was in financials, skinning ahead 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday, the first trading day of the month, despite key employment data missing expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 55.67 points to 21,948.10, with Nike leading advancers.
The S&P 500 tacked on 14.06 points to 2,471.65, with consumer discretionary issues leading 10 sectors higher.
The NASDAQ improved 60.35 points, or 1%, to 6,428.66
The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs in August. Economists expected 180,000 jobs to have been added last month.
Investors were closely watching out for the report as they looked for clues about the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move.
Other data set for release Friday included the Purchasing Managers Index manufacturing report and Institute for Supply Management reports and consumer sentiment.
The Fed is set to meet later this month with many investors expecting the central bank to begin rolling off its massive bonds portfolio.
However, most investors are expecting the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged for the rest of 2017.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note trailed Thursday, boosting yields to 2.15% from Thursday’s 2.12%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices retreated 41 cents to $46.82 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $2.60 to $1,324.80 U.S. an ounce.
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