Canada's main stock index fell on Friday, as investors were worried about the U.S.-China trade dispute, with Washington raising tariffs on Chinese goods even as the two sides tried to strike a last-minute deal.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sank 105.24 points to greet noon at 16,216.51
The Canadian dollar regained 0.25 cents to 74.48 cents
Gaming company Stars Group fell 4.6%, giving back gains after a near 15% rise on Thursday.
The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Kinaxis Inc, which rose 11.7% after better-than-expected quarterly results. This was followed by a 7.7% gain for CES Energy Solutions Corp.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc fell 6.6%, the most on the TSX, after its first-quarter profit missed estimates.
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 regained 1.05 points to 593.16
All but two of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower by noon, as industrials let go of 2.3%, while consumer discretionary dropped 1.7%, and health-care fell 1.6%.
The two gainers were in real-estate, up 0.3%, and utilities, just above the breakeven point.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell on Friday, extending this week's selloff, after 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 remained in the red 152.24 points to 25,676.12
The S&P 500 lost 18.43 points to 2,852.29. 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 74.32 points to 7,863.27
Apple, which has growing China revenue exposure for the iPhone, led the market decline, down nearly 3%.
Stocks pared some of the losses after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said China trade talks are done for the day, but they were "constructive." Reports also said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said the talks went "fairly well." The Dow was down 358 points at its intraday low.
Still, major averages are on pace to post their worst week of the year. The Dow is down more than 900 points this week since Trump's tariff threat and the S&P 500 is down more than 3%.
Companies that are hinging on a trade resolution are under pressure. Friday's drop in Apple brings its weekly loss to nearly 9%. Boeing dipped 1.2%, and Caterpillar 2% Friday.
Ride-hailing giant Uber began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday at $42 per share, after pricing at $45 per share.
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 29 cents to $61.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $2.80 to $1,288.00 U.S. an ounce.
