Canada's main stock index fell on Friday, as investors worried over the fate of a prolonged U.S.-China trade dispute, with U.S. President Donald Trump raising tariffs on Chinese goods even as the two sides held talks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index withered 75.31 points to begin Friday at 16,246.44
The Canadian dollar regained 0.46 cents to 74.69 cents
Enbridge beat analysts' estimates for quarterly profit, as it benefited from transporting more oil and gas across its pipelines.
Enbridge shares gained 58 cents, or 1.2%., to $49.75.
Nutrien missed profit estimates for the second straight quarter on Thursday, as flooding across the United States and drought in Australia disrupted the agriculture supply chain.
Nutrien shares fell 42 cents to $67.63.
TMX Group reported a quarterly profit that topped expectations on Thursday, helped by strength at its derivatives trading and global solutions business.
TMX shares shot higher $3.46, or 4.1%, to $88.20.
Desjardins raised the price target on Canadian Tire Corporation to $185 from $180
Canadian Tire lost $1.49, or 1%, to $146.84.
RBC cut the price target on Pinnacle Renewable Energy to $15.00 from $16.00. Pinnacle lost 20 cents, or 1.8%, to $11.02.
CIBC cut the price target on Optiva to $50.00 from $55.00. Optiva shares were unchanged at $43.00.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada said the economy created 107,000 jobs in April, with notable gains in part-time work for youth.
The unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage points to 5.7% as more people participated in the labour market.
Elsewhere, Canadian municipalities issued $8.1 billion worth of building permits in March, up 2.1% from February. The increase was attributable to higher construction intentions in Western Canada.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.38 points to 591.73
All but one of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower in the first hour, with health-care weakening 1.2%, industrials down 0.7%, and consumer discretionaries off 0.6%.
The real-estate sector proved the lone gainer, up only 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street opened lower on Friday as President Donald Trump said there's "absolutely no need to rush" on a trade agreement with China and tariffs will make the United States "much stronger."
The Dow Jones Industrials headed south 119.67 points to 25,708.69
The S&P 500 lost 15.25 points to 2,855.47. The decline followed a deep sell-off this week that saw the Dow falling more than 700 points and the S&P down nearly 3%.
The NASDAQ Composite fell 47.37 points to begin the week’s last session at 7,863.22
Still the losses on Friday were less than some expected as traders held out hope a deal or extension could still be hatched on Friday. Others bet the tariffs' impact on the economy would be less than feared.
Shares of Ford were up more than 1% Friday after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the equity to buy from neutral, citing a strong utility vehicle and truck lineup over the next few years.
E.W. Scripps and Evoqua Water Technologies are among the companies announcing earnings Friday.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury squeezed upward, thus lower yields to 2.44% from Thursday’s 2.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices picked up 15 cents to $61.85 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $2.10 to $1,284.80 U.S. an ounce.
