Mining stocks pulled the Toronto stock market lower Friday as the TSX had a mixed reaction to stronger-than-expected Canadian and American employment data for May.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was off its lows of the morning, and had struggled by noon to within 3.78 points of breakeven at 12,405.55
The Canadian dollar grew 0.53 cents to 97.95 cents U.S.
The gold sector declined as Barrick Gold Corp. lost 70 cents to $20.97.
The base metal group was down while copper fell four cents at $3.28 U.S. a pound and sector heavyweight Teck Resources gave back 43 cents to $26.33.
The telecom sector was down. The component has headed lower since earlier in the week after Industry Minister Christian Paradis said Mobilicity and other new wireless carriers won't be allowed to sell spectrum to big carriers.
The move was a setback for Telus which had asked permission to acquire Mobilicity and its spectrum and its shares gave back 31 cents to $34.59.
Tech stocks led advancers with BlackBerry ahead 25 cents to $14.30.
Industrials also lent support as Canadian Pacific Railway advanced $1.12 to $129.92
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 2.58 points to 948.85
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups had managed to forge into positive territory, with information technology stocks gaining 1.4%, industrials and utilities each taking on 0.8%.
The half-dozen laggards were anchored by a 4.1% tanking by gold stocks, while materials sank 2.4% and global base metals were down by 1.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
A good, but not great, jobs number managed to spark healthy gains on Wall Street Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 167.11 points, or 1.1%, to break for lunch at 15,207.70
The S&P 500 index climbed 17.40 points to 1,639.96. The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite gained 32.66 points to 3,456.71
It's been a week of ups and downs in the market. With Friday's gains, the major indexes are on track to end the week mixed. The Dow and S&P 500 are on pace for a gain of 0.7% and 0.5%, while the NASDAQ is on track for a slight decline.
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 world's biggest retailer announced a $15-billion U.S. stock buyback program at its annual shareholder meeting.
Shares of Amazon jumped after the online retailer began selling the Kindle in China.
Samsung shares tumbled in Korea as investors worried about slowing sales of the Galaxy S4 smartphone. Future sales could come under even more pressure if rivalApple 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 2.15% from Thursday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.42 to $96.18 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $34.60 to $1,381.20 U.S. an ounce
