Canada's main stock index fell at open on Friday after domestic data showed a surprise fall in jobs in August and as trade and tariff worries continued to weigh.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 78.88 points to begin the week’s last session at 16,022.06
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.03 cents to 76.01 cents.
U.S. and Canadian negotiators pushed ahead in grinding talks to rescue the North American Free Trade Agreement on Thursday, but a few stubborn issues stood in the way of a deal, including dairy quotas, protection for Canadian media companies, and how to resolve future trade disputes.
Lundin Mining said on Thursday it does not plan to revise its hostile bid for fellow base-metal miner Nevsun Resources Ltd after it was trumped by a $1.86-billion offer from China's Zijin Mining Group.
Lundin shares galloped 24 cents, or 3.9%, to $6.44.
TELUS Health is joining forces with London-based AI company Babylon to bring virtual medical services, including video consultations, to Canadians who do not have a family doctor or are in rural locations far from a surgery.
TELUS reversed 73 cents, or 1.5%, to $48.37.
CIBC cut the target price on Maxar Technologies to $69 from $82.50. Maxar shares dipped eight cents to $41.60.
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on Transcontinental Inc. to $28.00 from $29.00. Transcontinental shares plummeted $1.98, or 6.7%, to $27.73.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that the economy lost 52,000 jobs in August, after two straight months of increases.
Part-time employment declined by 92,000 while full-time employment edged up.
At the same time, the unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 6.0%
Western University’s IVEY School of Business announced its Purchasing Managers Index for August stood at 61.9, indicating that purchases were greater than the previous month. The figure compared to 61.8 in July and 56.3 in August 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.09 points to 709.47
All but two of the 12 subgroups were lower in the first hour of trade, weighed most by energy, sputtering 1.4%, while materials slid 0.7%, and consumer staples lost 0.6%.
The two gainers were health-care, up 0.4%, and information technology, improving 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Friday as a sharp increase in wages raised worries about tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. Investors were also jittery as the prospects of striking deals with China appear to be fading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 33.65 points to 25,962.22, with Boeing lagging.
The S&P 500 inched up 0.09 points to 2,878.05, as utilities underperformed.
The NASDAQ recovered 24.38 points to 7,947.23, as shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all rose.
Tesla shares fell more than 9% after Dave Morton, the company's chief accounting officer, resigned from his post. Morton said in a statement he left because of "the level of public attention placed on the company."
Average hourly earnings rose 2.9% for the month on an annualized basis, marking the largest jump since 2009. The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, more than the expected increase of 191,000.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the possibility of the U.S. and China reaching a trade deal are fading as the Trump administration tries to revamp the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reports that the U.S. and Canada will likely end the week with no trade deal in place.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump hinted to a Wall Street Journal columnist that he could take his trade fights to Japan next. The news sent the dollar lower against the yen on Friday morning.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury languished, spiking yields to 2.94% from Thursday’s 2.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 57 cents to $67.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped 40 cents to $1,205.60
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