Equities in Toronto remained negative, despite a few brief, fleeting moments in the green on Friday as oil shares rose on a relief rally after OPEC kept its oil output target unchanged, offsetting concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve might raise interest rates sooner than the market had expected.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 34.57 points to greet noon at 14,984.82
The Canadian dollar turned positive 0.17 cents to 80.17 cents U.S.
In the energy group, Canadian Natural Resources rose 1.3% to $38.19, while Suncor Energy advanced 1.4% to $36.63.
Among money stocks, Manulife Financial was among the most influential gainers, rising just over 1% to $23.79.
The materials sector pared earlier losses but was still down, as Goldcorp dropped 2.1% to $21.57, and Barrick Gold gave back 1.6% to $14.39.
Dairy-products producer Saputo, which missed quarterly profit expectations on Thursday, was down another 4.8%, at $30.96 after dropping some 4.7% in the previous session.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that the economy added 59,000 jobs in May. However, the agency adds that more Canadians were looking for work last month, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 6.8% for the fourth consecutive month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 2.69 points to 686.62.
In all, nine of the 14 TSX subgroups were still in the red, as gold slipped 2.1%, materials ducked back 1.1%, and consumer discretionaries were 0.8% to the bad.
The five gainers were led by metals and mining, up 0.6%, health-care, better by 0.4%, and energy, positive 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range on Friday as investors weighed a bond yield rally on a strong jobs report, which supports the case for a rate hike this year.
The Dow Jones Industrials were behind Thursday’s close by 26.49 points to 17,879.09, with JPMorgan Chase leading gainers and Verizon the greatest laggard.
The S&P 500 index faded 0.85 points to 2,094.99, with telecommunications leading five sectors lower and energy leading advancers.
The NASDAQ pulled out of the red and gained 4.15 points to 5,063.27.
Cybersecurity stocks Palo Alto Networks, FireEye, and Fortinet are in focus following news of the massive cyber attack that compromised the information of about four million federal employees.
DreamWorks surged more than 7.5% after the stock to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus, citing positive meetings with investor management.
U.S. non-farm payrolls totaled 280,000 in May, beating expectations, with unemployment slightly above forecasts at 5.5% Average hourly earnings increased by eight cents, also beating expectations. The labor force participation rate gained to 62.9%.
In its annual assessment of the U.S. economy, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday the Fed should delay a rate hike until the first half of next year until there are signs of a rebound in wages and inflation.
Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries skidded, lifting yields to 2.37% from Thursday’s 2.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices remained off three cents a barrel to $57.97 U.S.
Gold prices fell $6.40 at $1,168.80 U.S. an ounce.
