Markets in Canada opened lower on Friday, weighed by retreats among its heavyweight financials, energy and materials sectors as oil prices fell and solid U.S. jobs data added to the case for a rise in U.S interest rates next month.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 62.92 points to open Friday at 14,520.50
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.16 cents to 74.48 cents U.S.
Fairfax Financial Holdings barely eked out a profit for the third quarter as the company booked steep losses on its investments.
Fairfax shares dipped $5.82 to $684.99.
Telus Corp reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit, hurt by increased spending on the company's broadband network. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, excluding capital expenditure, fell nearly 23%.
Telus fell nine cents to $42.31.
TMX Group posted a sharp percentage rise in quarterly profit and raised its dividend for the first time since 2010 late on Thursday.
TMX shares advanced 49 cents to $62.31.
Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of transportation in and around Toronto, filed notice that it could terminate its contract with Bombardier Inc, a spokeswoman said on Thursday, after lengthy delivery delays. The pilot vehicle is about two years behind schedule.
Bombardier shares crawled lower two cents, or 1.1%, to $1.80.
National Bank of Canada has issued a 3.5-billion-yuan panda bond, the first North American financial institution to do so, after Beijing approved its five-billion-yuan bond programme in September.
National shares collapsed 26 cents to $46.85.
RBC raised the rating on Encana Corp to outperform from sector perform, saying the company has some of the best real estate and possesses solid execution capability.
Encana shares dropped 15 cents, or 1.1%, to $13.04.
CIBC raised the target price on Saputo to $54.00 from $45.00, following the company's strong Q2 results with earnings coming in well ahead of expectations in all segments.
Saputo shares faded 57 cents, or 1.2%, to $47.29.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 44,000 jobs in October, bringing the unemployment rate to 7%, as more people participated in the labour market.
What’s more, the agency reported that Canada's imports rose 4.7% to a record $47.6 billion in September. Exports edged up 0.1% to $43.5 billion.
As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $2 billion in August to a record $4.1 billion in September.
Western University’s Ivey School of Business reported its Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 59.7 in October, compared to 58.4 in September, and 53.1 in October 2015
(Remember also that the clocks turn back on the weekend, as much of the nation returns to Standard Time).
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was unchanged to 760.96.
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups began the day lower, with energy off 1.4%, financials down 0.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks dipping 0.7%.
The four gainers were led by utilities, up 0.6%, health-care, better by 0.3%, and gold, improving 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities kicked off Friday trading near breakeven after the release of employment data while investors looked out for new developments from the presidential election.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 7.4 points to open at 17,938.07, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most losses
The S&P 500 added 1.7 points at 2,090.42, and was looking to snap an eight-day losing streak.
The NASDAQ composite index recovered 4.56 points to 5,062.96
Jobs in the U.S. grew by 161,000 last month, while economists expected an increase of 175,000. The unemployment rate stood at 4.9%—in line with expectations —as investors got to digest the final payrolls report before Tuesday's presidential election.
But the bigger number in the report could be wages, with average hourly earnings climbing 10 cents and reflecting a 2.8% annualized increase, according to the report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On the election front, the race between Republican Donald Trump and his Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton, has become tighter since last week, when the FBI said it was investigating new emails related to Clinton.
According to sources, the average spread between Clinton and Trump is now just 1.7 points in a four-way race, down from about five points last week.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 1.78% from Thursday’s 1.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank 98 cents to $43.68 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices recovered two dollars to $1,305.30 U.S. an ounce.
