Stock markets in Toronto didn't hearken to solid employment numbers announced Friday, and staggered soon after the opening bell.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 31.18 points to begin Friday’s session at 12,378.15
The Canadian dollar grew 0.71 cents to 98.14 cents U.S.
Canaccord Genuity cut the price target on Canadian Western Bank to $30.75 from $31.50, continuing to believe that lower revenue growth will contribute to negative operating leverage of 1.6% this year. Western shares gathered 23 cents to $28.43.
Canaccord Genuity also raised the target on COM DEV International Inc. to $4.75 from $4.35, as the agency remains positive given the commercial and civil market strength and margin expansion post execution issues. Shares in COM DEV picked up 11 cents to $3.60.
CIBC upped the target on Constellation Software to $150 from $127, saying it continues to like the company's strategy, but believes that much of the upside is already priced into the stock. Constellation shares docked 12 cents to $147.25.
Speaking of things economic, Statistics Canada reported that employment rose by 95,000 in May, with most of the increase in full-time work. This employment gain pushed the unemployment rate down 0.1 percentage points to 7.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sidled back 2.49 points to 948.94
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower at the outset, weighed mostly by gold, down 3.5%, materials, sliding 2.2%, and global base metals, falling 2%.
The three gainers were information technology, up 0.7%, health-care, inching up 0.1%, and utilities, only 0.04% better than breakeven.
ON WALLSTREET
A good, but not great, jobs number sparked healthy gains on Wall Street Friday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 147.72 points, or 1%, to begin the week’s final session at 15,188.30
The S&P 500 index climbed 12.92 points to 1,635.48. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite gained 26.96 points to 3,451.01
Shares of TiVo plunged almost 20% after the company settled a patent infringement battle with Google's Motorola Mobility unit.
Wal-Mart rose after the company announced a $15-billion U.S. stock buyback program at its annual shareholder meeting.
Samsung shares tumbled sharply in Korea as investors worried about slowing sales of the Galaxy S4 smartphone. Future sales could come under even more pressure if rival Apple announces a trade-in program.
Economically speaking, the U.S. government's monthly report showed that the economy added 175,000 jobs in May, more than the 158,000 economists were expecting. The unemployment rate edged up to 7.6% from 7.5% in April.
The monthly jobs report is always a big focus among investors, and of particular importance as investors question how long the Federal Reserve will continue its bond-buying program as the economy recovers.
Fed chief Ben Bernanke has said that the Fed will begin pulling back on its stimulus monetary policies when the job market shows sustainable improvement.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged a bit, raising yields to 2.11% from Thursday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices erased 30 cents to $94.48 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $28.10 to $1,387.70 U.S. an ounce
