The Toronto stock market was lower Friday as the latest employment numbers from the United States showed job creation far weaker than expected during June, which reinforced fears that the American economy is stuck in a soft patch.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the day off 34.30 points to 13,371.70
The Canadian dollar tapered off 0.23 cents to 104.08 cents U.S.
The energy sector fell, though Suncor Energy eked out a gain of five cents to $39.27 and Canadian Natural Resources lost $1.29 to $40.38.
The mining sector lost territory as metal prices declined. The September copper contract on the Nymex was down five cents at $4.40 U.S. after surging 11 cents on Thursday. Teck Resources declined 79 cents to $50.19 and Lundin Mining lost 19 cents to $7.21.
Tech stocks were also lower as Research In Motion Ltd. lost nine cents to $27.78.
The gold sector provided some lift to the TSX as nervous investors pushed bullion prices higher for a fourth day. Barrick Gold Corp. gained eight cents to $44.38 and Goldcorp Inc. was a penny lower to $48.47.
Questerre Energy Corp. said Friday it has acquired Bakken-Torquay oil producing assets and undeveloped land in Antler region of southeast Saskatchewan for $13.25 million. Its shares rose 14 cents to $1.05.
On the economic front, the Canadian economy created 28,000 jobs last month, helped by a gain in part-time jobs, to post its third consecutive month of growth.
Statistics Canada said Friday the country's unemployment rate held steady in June at 7.4% as the number of people entering the workforce increased.
The increase in jobs was mainly in the part-time sector, which added 21,000 jobs, compared with 7,000 new full-time jobs.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 1.10 points to 1,984.81, while the Nasdaq Canada index slid 2.30 points to 566.62
In Toronto, all but three of the 14 subgroups were negative on the day. Metals and mining stocks tumbled 1.5%, energy stocks and global base metals ducked 0.8% each.
The three gainers were consumer staples, up 0.4%, materials, up 0.2%, and telecoms, up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks sank on Friday as Wall Street dealt with a dismal June jobs report that showed hiring crawled to a near standstill last month.
The Dow Jones Industrials were off their lows for the day, but still finished 62.29 points in the red at 12,657.20
The S&P 500 dropped 9.42 points to 1,343.80, and the Nasdaq Composite Index deducted 12.85 points to 2,859.81.
Investor reaction to the report was universally negative. Twenty nine of the 30 Dow members were negative while bond yields swooned as investors flooded into the relative safety of government bonds. Gold prices rose as well.
Shares of JDS Uniphase fell 4.5% after Piper Jaffray lowered its price target on the stock to $21 from $25 U.S.
On the economic front, the U.S. Labor Department's jobs report showed the U.S. economy created only 18,000 jobs last month, a fraction of the 120,000 jobs that a survey of economists had forecast.
June's unemployment rate remained at 9.2%, versus the decline to 9% economists had expected.
The government's jobs report came as a sharp contrast to two stronger-than-anticipated reports released Thursday on the employment market, which helped U.S. stocks rise sharply yesterday.
Private sector employers added 157,000 positions in June and fewer people filed new claims for unemployment benefits. But Friday's disappointing report is the most watched and is more influential.
Elsewhere, the Commerce Department said May wholesale inventories rose 1.8%, better than the 0.9% that economists had expected.
U.S. consumer credit rose by a seasonally-adjusted rate of 2.5% in May, the Federal Reserve said Friday. It was the eighth straight monthly increase for that figure.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 3.02% from Thursday's yield of 3.14%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for August delivery fell $2.37 to $96.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery gained $11 to $1,541.60 U.S. an ounce
