Losses increased on the Toronto stock market Friday afternoon as new data indicated the U.S. economic recovery is taking place amid disappointing levels of job creation.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended an abbreviated week behind Thursday’s close 38.37 points, to 13,272.30
The Canadian dollar was up 0.46 of a cent to 100.81 cents U.S.
The TSX energy sector declined, as Suncor Energy lost 16 cents to $36.98.
Sector losses were led by Canadian Natural Resources, down $2.35 or 5.5% to $40.60 after the energy giant announced that production at its Horizon oilsands plant in northern Alberta has been suspended after a fire broke out in an upgrader late Thursday afternoon. The fire was contained to the coker area.
The corporation says its Horizon facility produces about 90,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day.
Gold stocks were mixed as Goldcorp Inc. faded 44 cents to $42.50 while Eldorado Gold gained nine cents to $17.06.
The base metals sector was down, with the March copper contract down five cents at $4.28 U.S. a pound, adding up to a 3.6% slide this past week after reaching as record close of $4.48 U.S. a pound on New Year’s Eve. Quadra FNX Mining declined 49 cents to $16.24 while HudBay Minerals slipped 49 cents to $16.76.
Railway and bank stocks supported the TSX with Canadian National Railways ahead 68 cents at $66.98, while Royal Bank gained 41 cents to $52.02.
In other Canadian corporate news, pharmacy chain operator Jean Coutu Group said that third-quarter profits rose to $48 million from $44.6 million a year ago, which beat analyst estimates.
Revenues were down slightly to $677.3 million from $678.1 million. Its shares were down nine cents at $9.57.
Priszm Income Fund has withheld another franchise payment to Yum! Restaurants International as the owner of several Canadian KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut locations continues to restructure.
The $2-million franchise fee was due Wednesday. Priszm units dropped 1.5 cents, or 9.38%, to 14.5 cents.
On the economic ledger, some 22,000 more Canadians were working in December than in November primarily because of a surge in manufacturing jobs. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.6%, according to Statistics Canada's labour force survey released on Friday.
Markets expected 17,500 positions to be created in the month and the jobless rate to tick higher to 7.7%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained a healthy 8.21 points to 2,225.39, while the Nasdaq Canada index held onto a gain of 2.57 points to 767.06.
In Toronto, the 14 subgroups were evenly split between winners and losers. Consumer staples led the former category, climbing 0.8%, while utilities moved up 0.7% and financials were 0.4% better.
The seven laggards were weighed by energy issues, down 1.1%, while materials and global base metals sagged 0.6% each.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks came off session lows but ended weaker Friday afternoon after a court ruled against Wells Fargo and US Bancorp in a foreclosure case. The ruling sparked a sell off in bank stocks that rippled through the broader market.
The Dow Jones Industrials descended 22.55 points to 11,674.80.
The S&P 500 moved lower by 2.35 points to 1,271.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.72 points to 2,703.17.
The U.S. economy added slightly fewer than expected jobs in December, but the unemployment rate edged lower than economists had anticipated.
Bank stocks sank after U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo lost a case in Massachusetts' highest court. The ruling comes as attorneys general in all U.S. states are investigating foreclosure practices.
Shares of Wells Fargo dropped 2%, while US Bancorp's stock fell 0.8%.
Before the opening bell, KB Home released quarterly earnings that beat expectations. The company reported profit per share of 23 cents U.S., compared to the loss of 17 cents U.S. expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Shares of the company jumped 6.4%.
Shares of Best Buy closed slightly higher even after the consumer electronics chain said same-store sales fell 4% in December.
Economically speaking, the government's monthly jobs report showed employers boosted payrolls by 103,000 last month from an upwardly revised 71,000 in November. That was lower than expected, with a survey of 27 economists looking for a 150,000-new-employee gain last month.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% from 9.8%.
Earlier in the week, investors weighed a strong report on private sector payrolls against disappointing jobless claims data.
Following the jobs report, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers the recovery is finally taking hold. In prepared testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, Bernanke said there is increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery may be taking hold. He added that the pace of the recovery will be "moderately stronger in 2011 than it was in 2010."
A report from the Federal Reserve showed consumers increased their debt for a second straight month in November. Consumer credit increased $1.35 billion U.S. during the month. Economists were estimating a decline in total borrowing of $2.5 billion U.S. after an increase of $7.0 billion U.S. in October, according to a consensus estimate from Briefing.com.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury ran up, lowering the yield to 3.33% from Thursday’s 3.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery gained two cents to $88.40 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for February delivery fell $2.80 to settle at $1,368.90 U.S. an ounce.
