The Toronto stock market was down Friday afternoon as a stronger than expected U.S. jobs report failed to reassure investors already worried about a slowing American economy and a lack of leadership in coming to grips with the European debt crisis.
In a whipsaw session, the S&P/TSX Composite Index subsided 217.96 points, or 1.8%, on top of yesterday’s 435-point plunge, to end a turbulent day and week at 12,162.17. The market had been down nearly 500 points Friday.
Friday’s losses, coming a day after the TSX racked up its biggest single-session decline in more than two years on Thursday, were led by sliding resource stocks amid investor sentiment that slowing economic conditions will heavily impact demand.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.40 at 102.3 cents U.S.
Magna International Inc. was an early big loser, as its shares fell $5.31, or 12.1%, to $38.66 after it reported net income of $282 million in the second quarter, or $1.15 per share — far below the $1.32 a share that analysts expected.
Oil prices turned around following the U.S. jobs report after slumping this week because traders felt slowing economic conditions would crimp demand.
The energy sector fell as Suncor Energy declined 82 cents to $32.30 and Canadian Natural Resources was down 96 cents at $35.23.
The mining sector lost ground as the September copper contract fell 12 cents to $4.12 U.S. a pound. Teck Resources lost $1.37 to $41.53 while Lundin Mining fell 38 cents to $5.29.
Among gold plays, Barrick Gold Corp. faded 47 cents to $44.91 while Goldcorp Inc. gained 44 cents to $45.32.
Financials were also a drag with Royal Bank down 76 cents at $49.97 while CIBC dropped $1.22 to $70.00.
In earnings news, shares in Telus Corp., Canada’s second biggest telecom operator, were up 35 cents to $51.63 after it raised its revenue guidance. It also reported net profits in the second quarter rose to $324 million or 99 cents a share from $302 million or 94 cents a year ago.
Enbridge Inc., a major oil pipeline operator and natural gas distributor, reported its net earnings in the second quarter nearly doubled to $259 million or 35 cents a share. Its shares dipped 47 cents to $29.72.
On things economic, the Canadian economy added 7,100 jobs in July, about half of what economists had expected, but the scant gain was enough to build on three consecutive months of growth.
Statistics Canada said Friday the country’s unemployment rate fell last month to 7.2% as fewer people entered the workforce. There were 25,500 more full-time workers and 18,400 fewer part-time workers in July.
Elsewhere, building permits were in vogue, as Stats Can said the value of permits in the non-residential sector rose 3% to $2.8 billion in June, following a 51.1% increase in May.
StatsCan says industrial and institutional buildings in Ontario and Quebec were behind much of the advance in the non-residential sector.
In the residential sector, municipalities issued $3.7 billion worth of permits in June, up 1.5% from May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange declined another 41.85 points to 1,811.49 while the Nasdaq Canada index subtracted 9.11 points to 475.73
In Toronto, all but one of the 14 subgroups went down Friday. Health-care slipped 3.9%, while consumer discretionaries tailed off 3.7% and energy lost 2.7%.
Only telecoms posted gains, up 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks whipsawed throughout the day, with the Dow swinging more than 400 points, as investors scrambled to make sense of a whirlwind of news Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrials came out in positive territory, gaining 60.93 points, by the end of the day’s session to 11,444.60, after being down more than 200 points midday. The blue chips were lifted by shares of Kraft and Procter & Gamble The biggest drag on the Dow were shares of Bank of America, which fell 5%.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.69 points to 1,199.38. The Nasdaq Composite skidded 23.98 points to 2,532.41
Stocks started Friday's session sharply higher after investors got a strong U.S. jobs report.
But the rally couldn't find any legs, with the major indexes turning sharply lower as fears about Europe's escalating debt problems quickly dampened any early enthusiasm.
Stocks plunged Thursday, with the Dow tumbling 512 points -- its steepest point loss since October 2008 -- as fear about the global economy spooked investors. All three major indexes erased all their gains for the year, and pushed into "correction" territory -- defined as a 10% drop from recent highs.
Italy is quickly becoming the latest domino to potentially fall in the Euro-Zone, with many investors worrying that the Euro-Zone's third largest economy may be too large to save.
Stocks once again found support after the European Central Bank said it agreed to buy Italian bonds in exchange for massive budget cuts.
Shares of Procter & Gamble rose 2%, after the Dow component posted earnings and sales that were ahead of expectations. The company also warned that results for the current quarter would fall short of estimates.
Priceline.com shares jumped 9%, following the online travel site's better-than-expected earnings and a strong outlook for the rest of the year.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Labor Department said the economy gained 117,000 jobs in July.
Economists surveyed by CNNMoney were expecting an increase of 75,000 jobs. The June reading was also revised higher to show an addition of 46,000 jobs, up from an initial figure of 18,000.
Prices on the 10-year Treasury note backpedaled, raising yields to 2.56% from Thursday’s 2.46%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for September delivery eked up six cents to $86.69 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for December delivery gained $3.00 to $1,662.60 U.S. an ounce Friday
