Canada's main stock index fell in early trading on Friday as bank and resource stocks pulled the market lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tailed off Friday 27.74 points to 15,987.25
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.9 cents to 78.47 cents U.S.
Saputo’s chief executive said the company aims to return Australia's Murray Goulburn Co-operative to profit by aggressively pursuing more of the country's milk supply.
Saputo shares settled $1.02, or 2.3%, to $44.41
Canadian Natural Resources’ chief executive says his company has increased its volume commitment on TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL pipeline by about 46% to 175,000 barrels per day.
The company, which trades on the TSX under the symbol CNQ, found its price target raised by National Bank of Canada to C$52. CNQ shares gained 19 cents to $45.46.
National Bank upped the rating on Genworth MI Canada to outperform from sector perform. Genworth shares took on $2.20, or 5.4%, to $42.70.
CIBC raised the rating on Kinaxis Inc. to outperform from neutral. Kinaxis shares jumped $1.47, or 2.1%, to $72.43.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported the economy created 35,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 6.3%.
The agency said mployment gains in the month were driven by full-time work (which improved 89,000), while 53,000 fewer people worked part-time
Meanwhile, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world totaled $3.2 billion in September, essentially unchanged from the previous month.
Exports were down 0.3% on lower passenger car and light truck exports, while imports decreased 0.3% on lower prices.
The U.S. Commerce Department, accusing Canada of unfairly subsidizing and dumping softwood lumber in the United States, on Thursday set final duties on imports and Canada said it would appeal the decision, which comes during tense NAFTA trade talks.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.95 points to 791.30
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups moved lower in the early going, with consumer staples sliding 1%, while gold and materials each slipped 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by energy, gushing 0.5%. utilities, up 0.3%, and health-care, better by 0.2%
ON WALLSTREET
The NASDAQ composite rose on Friday to trade near a record on the back of a sharp rally in Apple shares.
The NASDAQ regained 6.97 points to 6,721.92
The Dow Jones industrial average faded 15.74 points from Thursday’s record high to 23,500.52, with Intel leading decliners.
The S&P 500 nicked lower 1.83 points to 2,578.02, with utilities leading advancers. Newell Brands rose 6% and was the best-performing stock in the index; it rebounded from sharp losses in the previous session.
Apple shares rose more than 2% after the tech giant reported quarterly earnings that blew expectations out of the water. The company also issued strong guidance for the current quarter.
The stock's jump pushed Apple's market cap above $900 billion for the first time.
Friday was also a big day for Wall Street on the data front. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs last month. Economists expected a gain of 310,000 jobs. The report also showed average hourly earnings remained flat for October.
Other data set for release Friday include factory orders and the non-manufacturing Institute for Supply Management report on business
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note were unchanged, keeping yields at Thursday’s 2.35%.
Oil prices notched up 10 cents a barrel to $54.64 U.S.
Gold prices lost seven dollars an ounce to $1,271.10 U.S.
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