Canada's main stock index moved lower on Friday, following global equities markets lower as it was weighed by declines in shares of financial, energy and mining companies.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 34.76 points to greet noon at 15,542.03
The Canadian dollar fell 0.10 cents to 91.85 cents U.S.
Bank stocks were among the biggest weights on the Toronto index, with Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion and Bank of Montreal all lower.
Shares of Manulife Financial were down for a second day in a row after the company earlier this week said it had agreed to buy Standard Life's Canadian operations.
Manulife was down 0.5% at $21.93 and has lost more than 2% since the deal was announced.
Goldcorp gave up 1.2% at $27.88 the day after its chief executive said gold production this year could end up near the bottom end of its forecast range if it is unable to restart output at one of its Mexican mines.
On the upside, shares of Bombardier gained 0.6% to $3.67 after the train and plane maker said flight testing for its CSeries will resume this month.
Air Canada rose 2.8% to $9.08 after it said its load factor rose in August.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that employment was little changed in August and the unemployment rate remained at 7.0%. The agency compared with 12 months earlier, employment increased by 81,000, or 0.5%, mostly in part-time work.
Western University’s IVEY Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 50.9 by the end of August, down from July’s reading of 54.1, and the 51 reading in August of last year.
The poll of company purchasing managers asks whether purchases were higher, lower or the same month during the month. A figure above 50 shows an increase while below 50 shows a decrease.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.97 points to 993.46.
All but four of the 14 Toronto subgroups were lower by midday, with financials, gold and the metals and mining group each capsizing 0.5%.
The four gainers were led by health-care issues, up 0.3%, while real-estate and industrials each nicking up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were mixed after a surprisingly weak jobs report indicated a marked slowdown in the labour market.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from a sluggish start to gain 12.52 points by noon at 17,082.10
The S&P 500 was in the green 1.48 points to 1,999.13. The NASDAQ subsided 2.57 points to 4,560.35.
El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. gained after the restaurant franchise’s second-quarter earnings beat analysts’ expectations late Thursday.
Shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. slid after the company’s biggest shareholder sold its stake overnight.
The U.S. economy added 142,000 new jobs in August, the smallest gain since December and well below Wall Street expectations for 228,000.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries moved higher, lowering yields to 2.42% from Thursday’s 2.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell $1.29 to $93.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices remained positive 80 cents to $1,267.30 U.S. an ounce.
