Equities in Canada’s biggest market struggled to make the breakeven mark Friday, as losses for health-care and food companies kept things lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave back 20.27 points to end Friday and the week at 15,191.60
The Canadian dollar added 0.64 cents to 80.75 cents U.S.
The index was still on track for a 0.9% gain on the week
Health-care issues weighed the heaviest on the market Friday, as Valeant Pharmceuticals dropped 30 cents, or 1.8%, to $16.49, while Aphria Inc. doffed a cent to $5.97.
Groceries retailers, under pressure after Amazon cut prices on some items at its just-acquired Whole Foods Market chain, also lost ground.
Loblaw Cos fell $2.48, or 3.7%, to $65.26 and Metro Inc was down 44 cents, or 1.1% to $40.78.
Gold miners weighed even as the price of bullion held firm after U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in August.
Barrick Gold Corp fell four cents to $22.45 and Agnico Eagle Mines lost 63 cents, or nearly 1% to $63.38.
The one bright spot, it seemed, came from the energy sector, where Suncoe Energy was a big winner, collecting 47 cents, or 1.2%, to $39.60, while Cenovus Energy triumphed 16 cents, or 1.6%, to $9.93.
On the economic schedule, the seasonally-adjusted IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 54.6 in August, to remain above the neutral 50.0 threshold for the 18th consecutive month. Although down slightly from 55.5 in July, the index signaled a rate of improvement that remained above the long-run series average
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 1.6 points to 778.45
All but one of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower Friday, with health-care dipping 1.2%, consumer staples off 1.1%, and gold down 0.7%.
The lone gainer Friday was in energy, ahead 0.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday as Wall Street assessed the likelihood of tighter monetary policy following a weaker-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 39.46 points to 21,987.56, having briefly flirted with space above 22,000 for the first time since mid-August. Goldman Sachs contributed the most gains.
The S&P 500 tacked on 4.9 points to 2,476.55, with energy leading seven sectors higher.
The NASDAQ gained 6.67 points to 6,435.33, a record close
For the week, the three major indexes posted solid weekly gains. The Dow gained 0.8% for the week, while the S&P rose 1.3%. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, rose 2.7%, notching its best weekly performance of the year.
The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs in August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists expected 180,000 jobs to have been added last month.
The BLS also said, however, that wages grew at an annualized rate of 2.5%, less than expected.
Investors were closely watching out for the report as they looked for clues about the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move.
The Fed is set to meet later this month with many investors expecting the central bank to begin rolling off its massive bonds portfolio. However, most investors are expecting the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged for the rest of 2017.
Other data released Friday included construction spending for July, which hit a nine-month low, and national factory activity for August, which expanded more than expected.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped, boosting yields to 2.16% from Thursday’s 2.12%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered nine cents to $47.32.
Gold prices jumped $8.90 to $1,331.10 U.S. an ounce.
