Equities in Canada’s largest market straddled the breakeven line on Friday, led by big banks, as domestic jobs data was not considered strong enough to change the central bank’s interest rate outlook, while concerns of a trade war continued to mount.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index inched up 2.13 points to open Friday at 15,358.18
The Canadian dollar gained 0.19 cents at 78.49 cents U.S.
Japan's SoftBank Group Corp will buy up to 9.9% stake in Canada-based Nemaska Lithium Inc and invest up to $99.1 million through a private placement as part of the agreement.
Nemaska shares vaulted 20 cents, or 17.1%, to $1.37.
BMO cut the price target on Corus Entertainment Inc to $7.50 from $9.00. Corus shares galloped 20 cents, or 2.8%, to $7.33
BMO started coverage on Roots Corp. with outperform rating with a price target of $14.00. Roots shares tacked on nine cents to $10.34.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 32,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate stayed put at 5.8%
Elsewhere, Western University’s IVEY Purchasing Managers’ Index measured 59.8 in March, in contrast to readings of 59.6 in February, and 61.1 in March 2017. A reading above 50 indicates an increase in the pace of activity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the United States, Mexico and Canada are "moving forward in a significant way" at talks to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 0.26 points to 770.30
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were higher, as gold shone 0.7% brighter, while energy and telecoms each moved 0.4% higher.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, fading 1.5%, while information technology and financials each lost 0.2%
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded lower on Friday as worries of a trade war between the U.S. and China grew. Wall Street also digested employment data that missed analyst expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average faded 145.12 points to 24,360.10, with Boeing and Caterpillar as the biggest decliners in the index.
The S&P 500 skidded 11.18 points to 2,651.66, with materials as the worst-performing sector.
The NASDAQ Composite index dipped 28.61 points to 7,047.94
Boeing and Caterpillar, two companies that could be adversely affected by a trade war with China, both fell more than 1%.
The major indexes came off their lows as shares of large-cap tech companies pared losses. Facebook dipped 0.3% and Amazon fell 0.7% after falling more than 1%. Netflix erased its losses, trading 0.6% higher mid-morning.
The move lower in stocks also follows the release of much weaker-than-expected jobs data. The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy stateside added 103,000 jobs in March. Economists expected a gain of 193,000.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note picked up, lowering yields to 2.80% from Thursday’s 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 20 cents a barrel to $63.34 U.S.
Gold prices gained $7.20 to $1,335.70 U.S. an ounce.
