The Toronto stock market was slightly lower midday Friday despite Canadian and U.S. jobs reports that exceeded expectations.
The S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon down 29.53 points to 12,796.99
The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.17 cents at 97.33 cents U.S.
The base metals sector gained while May copper down two cents at $3.50 U.S. a pound. First Quantum Minerals ran up 82 cents to $20.05.
The TSX gold sector shook off early losses to rebound as Iamgold ran ahead 33 cents to $6.73.
The energy sector was down as Canadian Natural Resources fell 30 cents to $31.80.
The tech sector was lower as shares of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates fell $3.17 to $69.60 after announcing a deal to raise $250 million in an offering of shares.
The industrials sector was also negative as Canadian Pacific Railway shed $1.18 to $129.81
Engineering firm SNC-Lavalin reported it had $94.6 million of net income or 63 cents per share in the fourth quarter with $2.42 billion in revenue.
Analysts had estimated 90 cents per share of adjusted earnings and 92 cents per share of net income with $2.17 billion of revenue, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Its shares fell $2.80 to $43.04.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada told us this morning that employment rose by 51,000 in February, following a slight decline the previous month.
This increase was spread between full- and part-time work. The unemployment rate remained at 7.0% as more people participated in the labour force.
Elsewhere, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said on Friday in a report that showed the housing market is continuing to moderate. CMHC said the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts was 180,719 units in February, up from 158,998 in January. The January figure was revised down from the 160,577 units reported previously.
The number of starts in February was slightly above the 175,000 starts expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sidled back 2.29 points to 1,113.94
Nine of the 14 Toronto subgroups were higher by noon hour, led by the metals and mining group, up 1.4%, materials, hiking 0.7%, and gold, making its way up 0.3%.
The five laggards were weighed mostly by industrials, down 0.7%, while financials and information technology each slid 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
An unexpectedly robust jobs report pushed blue chips to yet another record Friday.
The Dow added 28.82 points to approach noon Friday at 14,358.30, adding to Thursday’s all-time record close.
The S&P 500 index eked up 3.23 points to 1,547.03, as both the blue chip index and broader S&P have gained for five straight days.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite also improved, by 5.59 points to 3,237.68.
In corporate news, online music streaming firm Pandora Media reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and announced that its CEO will be stepping down. Pandora's shares soared.
Athletic shoe retailer Foot Locker reported a significant increase in sales and profit for the fourth quarter. But its stock fell more than 5%.
Citigroup's shares gained more than 1%, after the U.S. Federal Reserve released results from its stress tests. The Fed said Citi was the big bank best prepared to weather another recession.
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs also passed the stress tests, but shares of all three banks fell.
Shares of Skullcandy sank more than 20% after the headphone maker forecast a 30% drop in sales and said it expects to post a loss for the current quarter.
Herbalife shares edged higher after activist investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in the nutritional supplement company.
Economically speaking, ahead of the opening bell, the U.S. government reported that 236,000 jobs were added to the economy in February, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% from 7.9%.
That was much better than the 170,000 and 7.8% expected by economists.
Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury stumbled, raising yields to 2.07% from Thursday’s 1.99%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 31 cents to $91.25 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $1.40 to $1,573.70 U.S. an ounce.
