Canadian stocks were virtually unchanged in Friday’s first hour of trading as investors digested the country's key jobs report, numbers that disappointed.
The S&P/TSX composite index faded 15.44 points to open the week’s last session at 15,099.04
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.51 cents to 93.39 cents U.S.
Worries about soft growth will keep the Bank of Canada from hiking interest rates until late next year, although rising prices are expected to make it temper concerns about low inflation in its policy statement next week. That word from a recent Reuters poll.
The union representing about 1,000 workers at a Bombardier Inc railcar production facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario threatened to strike on Monday if the parties fail to come to an agreement. Bombardier shares squeezed up a penny to $3.77.
Inter Pipeline Ltd, which operates regional pipeline systems in Western Canada, said on Thursday it planned a $100-million expansion of its oil lines in Saskatchewan to add capacity of 95,000 barrels per day. Inter Pipeline shares faltered 21 cents to $32.20.
CIBC raised the price target on Fortuna Silver Mines shares to $6.50 from $5.00, with a sector perform rating. Fortuna shares climbed 34 cents, or 5.8%, to $6.17.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that employment numbers were little changed in June and the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 7.1% as more people were searching for work.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nosed up 0.89 points to 1,023.74.
Eight of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative in the first hour, as energy waned 0.8%, metals and mining weakened 0.6%, and consumer staples drooped 0.4%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by gold, up 1.8%, materials, up 0.9%, and health-care, up 0.8%.
ON WALLSTREET
Caution is the word of the day on Wall Street Friday, as the major markets were flat to down slightly in early trading.
The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 11.13 points to begin Friday at 16,903.94
The S&P 500 fell 0.25 points to 1,964.43, and the NASDAQ composite pulled ahead 10.87 points to 4,407.07.
Shares of Wells Fargo were under pressure after the nation's largest bank by market cap reported earnings that were in line with analysts' expectations.
Wells Fargo is the first major U.S. bank to report second-quarter results. Citibank, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley all open their books next week.
Imperial Tobacco, a global tobacco company based in England, is in talks to buy certain brands from Reynolds American and Lorillard. The deal would combine two of the largest U.S. cigarette brands into a company with a potential market value of $56 billion U.S., according to one expert.
Trading in shares of Cynk Technology, which have soared 2,500% since mid-June, was halted Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said the suspension was due to concerns about "the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace and potentially manipulative transactions in CYNK's common stock."
Major European exchanges regained composure Friday, bouncing back after worries over a Portuguese bank eased.
Shares in Banco Espirito Santo were suspended on Thursday, but not before they slumped 17%, taking losses for the year to 46%. Banco Esperito resumed trading Friday and said it has sufficient capital to cover any losses. The stock stabilized Friday after regulators announced a temporary ban on short selling in the bank's shares.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 2.52% from Thursday’s 2.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 91 cents to $102.02 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices sank $1.70 to $1,337.50 U.S. an ounce.
