Canada's main stock index fell on Friday after domestic data showed a surprise decline in jobs in August and as trade and tariff worries continued to weigh.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index stayed in the red 61.57 points to greet noon Friday at 16,039.37
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.09 cents to 75.95 cents.
The TSX has closed lower in the past five sessions in a row and is set for biggest weekly decline in 24 weeks at current level.
U.S. and Canadian negotiators pushed ahead in grinding talks to rescue the North American Free Trade Agreement on Thursday, but a few stubborn issues stood in the way of a deal, including dairy quotas, protection for Canadian media companies, and how to resolve future trade disputes.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Enghouse Systems, which jumped $3.29, or 4.1%, to $84.13 after its quarterly results, followed by Sierra Wireless, that rose $1.10, or 4.5%, to $25.78.
Transcontinental Inc. fell $2.11, or 7.1%, to $27.60, the most on the TSX, after its quarterly results. The second-biggest decliner was Cenovus Energy, down 31 cents, or 2.7%, to $11.30.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that the economy lost 52,000 jobs in August, after two straight months of increases.
Part-time employment declined by 92,000 while full-time employment edged up.
At the same time, the unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 6.0%
Western University’s IVEY School of Business announced its Purchasing Managers Index for August stood at 61.9, indicating that purchases were greater than the previous month. The figure compared to 61.8 in July and 56.3 in August 2017.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 0.98 points to 710.54
All but three of the 12 subgroups were lower midday, weighed most by energy, sputtering 1.1%, while telecoms lost 0.9%, and utilities tailed off 0.6%.
The three gainers were information technology, improving 1.2%, health-care, better by 0.4%, and materials, inching up 0.01%.
ON WALLSTREET
Blue-chip indexes took their lumps by midday Friday, amid concerns about tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hurtled lower 120.53 points to 25,875.34
The S&P 500 settled 7.72 points to 2,870.44
The NASDAQ moved lower 8.49 points to 7,914.24
Tech shares have had a tough week. Entering Friday's session, the sector had lost 2.6% and pressured the broader market. The S&P 500 entered Friday’s session 0.8% lower, and the NASDAQ was off 2.3%. The Dow, meanwhile, was up slightly for the week.
Equities fell earlier in the session after the release of strong wage data.
Tesla shares fell more than 9% after Dave Morton, the company's chief accounting officer, resigned from his post. Morton said in a statement he left because of "the level of public attention placed on the company."
Average hourly earnings rose 2.9% for the month on an annualized basis, marking the largest jump since 2009. The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, more than the expected increase of 191,000.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the possibility of the U.S. and China reaching a trade deal are fading as the Trump administration tries to revamp NAFTA. Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reports that the U.S. and Canada will likely end the week with no trade deal in place.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump hinted to a Wall Street Journal columnist that he could take his trade fights to Japan next. The news sent the dollar lower against the yen on Friday morning.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury languished, spiking yields to 2.93% from Thursday’s 2.88%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices fell 29 cents to $67.48 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $2.10 to $1,202.20
