Stocks in Canada’s largest market opened flat Friday, as a rise in oil prices lifted energy stocks, while government data showing a drop in unemployment rate in August further lifted sentiment.
The TSX Composite backed off 6.65 points, to start Friday at 20,698.62
The Canadian dollar took on 0.41 cents to 79.37 cents U.S.
Bausch Health Companies has agreed to pay $300 million to settle an anti-trust lawsuit accusing it of illegally maintaining a monopoly on diabetes drug Glumetza, enabling a nearly 800% price hike in 2015.
Bausch shares eked higher two cents to $36.19.
Desjardins initiated coverage on ABC Technologies Holdings with a buy rating. ABC rocketed 25 cents, or 3.2%, to $8.16.
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Agnico Eagle Mines to sector perform from outperform. Agnico Eagle faded 66 cents to $71.07.
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Barrick Gold to $36.00 from $37.00. Barrick shares trailed off 14 cents to $24.74.
On the economic sheet, Statistics Canada says the economy created 90,000 jobs in August, bringing the unemployment rate down 0.4 percentage points to 7.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched forward 0.67 points to 905.87.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower at the outset, with health-care doddering 0.8%, gold off 0.6%, and real-estate falling 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by energy, up 1%, consumer discretionary ahead 0.6%, and information technology inching up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined for a fifth-straight day Friday amid economic uncertainty.
The blue-chip index sank 52.08 points to 34,827.30,
The S&P 500 recovered 4.02 points to 4,497.30
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 39.47 points, to 15,287.73.
For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow is down 1.5% and on pace for its second negative week in a row. The S&P 500 is off by about 0.9% for the week, while the NASDAQ is 0.5% lower.
Investors are worried about persistent COVID cases slowing the economy just as hot inflation causes the Federal Reserve to take away easy policies.
The August producer prices index released Friday showed wholesale costs for businesses rose 8.3% on an annual basis, its biggest advance on record since at least 2010. The PPI accelerated 0.7% for the month, above the 0.6% Dow Jones estimate. The more important consumer price index for August will be released on Tuesday.
Investors remained cautious as they try to discern what’s next to happen with the delta variant, the economic reopening and the Federal Reserve.
The Fed meets on Sep. 21-22 and investors are worried the central bank will indicate a move to slow down its monthly $120 billion in bond purchases, which have kept rates low and boosted the recovery from the pandemic.
Also helping sentiment was a better-than-expected weekly reading on jobless claims. Initial jobless claims came in 310,000, which was below expectations of 335,000 claims. This marked another fresh low for the pandemic era.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.33% from Thursday’s 1.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recaptured $1.48 to $69.62 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $4.90 to $1,797.40 U.S. an ounce.
