Bay Street stocks were lingering in the red in mid-morning deals Friday, following discouraging monthly jobs reports from both sides of the border.
The S&P TSX Composite Index approached noon down 32.69 points, to 11,742.08
Energy stocks were down marginally after the price of crude oil slipped for a third session.
Encana Corp and Baytex Energy Trust lost nearly 1% each.
Electricity producer Boralex Inc. shed 5.11% after it slipped into red in second quarter, reporting net loss of $0.15 per share compared to a profit of $0.05 per share last year.
Telecommunications company Telus Corp. was down 0.96% despite reporting a 21% jump in second-quarter net income at $0.92 per share compared to $0.77 per share in the year ago period.
MTS Allstream Inc. surrendered 7.06%. The company reported a marginal decline in second quarter net income at $0.44 per share compared to $0.47 per share in the previous year. The company revised down its fiscal 2010 revenue guidance to a range of $1.740 billion to $1.790 billion from the previous range of $1.780 billion to $1.880 billion.
Meanwhile, among gold plays, Barrick Gold and Agnico-Eagle Mines gained over 3% each.
Yamana Gold added 4.84%. Thursday, the company reported higher second quarter revenues of $351.37 million compared to $236.71 million in the year ago quarter and announced a 33% hike in its quarterly dividend at $0.02 per share.
Gold miner La Mancha Resources edged up 1.03% after reporting higher second quarter net income of $0.06 per share compared to $0.04 per share in the year-ago quarter.
In the base metals space, molybdenum miner Thompson Creek Metals surged 7.47%. Yesterday, the company said it swung to profit in second quarter, reporting net income of $0.87 per share, compared to a net loss of $0.73 per share in the same quarter last year.
HudBay Minerals and Lundin Mining were up over 2% each.
Among consumer stocks, automotive supplier Magna International rallied 9.08% after it swung to profit in the second quarter, reporting net earnings $2.59 per share compared to a loss of $1.83 per share in the previous year.
Analysts were expecting the company to report earnings of $1.46 per share this quarter. The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share from $0.18 per share.
In economic news, Statistics Canada said employment fell by 9,300 jobs in July, the first decline this year, following a 93,200 increase in June.
Unemployment rate edged up 0.1% to 8.0% in July, after dropping below 8% for the first time in more than a year in June. Economists had expected Canadian employers to have added 10,300 jobs to payrolls last month, following a 93,200 gain in June.
The Canadian dollar skidded 1.01 cents to 97.30 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were lower by lunch time. Consumer staples slid 1.2%, telecoms were off 1% and financials eased 0.9%.
Gold led the five upward groups, adding 2%, materials moved 1.4% higher and consumer discretionaries picked up 0.7%.
The TSX Venture Exchange was positive 0.28 points to 1,459.35 while the Nasdaq Canada index gave back 1.18 points to 625.30.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks sank Friday, pushing the S&P 500 below a key technical level, as fresh signs of weakness in the job market added to concerns about the sluggish pace of the economic recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 135.42 points, or 1.3%, by midday to 10,539.74
The S&P 500 index faded 15.34 points to 1,110.47, while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite index eased 28.22 points to 2,264.84.
Stocks opened lower after a disappointing jobs report added to worries over the tepid pace of the U.S. economic recovery. The selloff accelerated mid-morning after the S&P 500 broke through the lower end of its recent trading range.
Investors have been focused on the job market recently for signs the economic recovery, which appears to be losing steam, can be sustained. In particular, traders are worried the weak job market will further undermine consumer confidence, the main driver of the U.S. economy.
Traders were anticipating significant losses in temporary Census workers, but were hoping to see strength in private sector, which only added 71,000 jobs last July.
Fannie Mae said it lost $1.2 billion U.S. in the second quarter, down significantly from an $11.5 billion U.S. loss in the prior quarter. The government-run mortgage finance company said that its financial condition has vastly improved over previous quarters, but it still requested more government assistance.
AIG reported a quarterly net loss of $2.7 billion U.S. due to the sales of some of its divisions, a continuation of its restructuring following its disastrous losses. But its income from continuing operations more than doubled. Shares of the insurer rose 3%.
On the economic front, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy lost 131,000 jobs last month, as the government shed 143,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census.
Economists polled by Briefing.com were expecting 87,000 job losses during the month.
The report showed that private sector added 71,000 jobs, less than the 83,000 gain economists were looking for.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5%. It was forecast to rise to 9.6%.
Investors were also disappointed by the revision to the losses in June. The report showed that the economy lost 221,000 jobs in June, far more than the 125,000 the government previously reported.
Treasury prices gained sharply, lowering yields on the 10-year note to 2.83% from Thursday’s 2.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil was 86 cents lower to $81.15 U.S.
Gold prices jumped $10 to $1,209 U.S. an ounce.
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