Stocks in Canada’s largest market fell on Friday, with commodity and technology stocks leading losses, after a robust jobs report in the U.S. bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to continue its policy tightening pace amid soaring inflation.
The TSX dropped 46.99 points to start the week’s last session at 19,530.05.
The Canadian dollar declined 0.43 cents to 77.27 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy posted an over fourfold jump in its second-quarter profit, as the oil producer benefited from a rally in commodity prices, and floated plans to divest assets and slim down its portfolio. Suncor shares picked up 38 cents, or nearly 1%, to $39.84.
TC Energy said it had struck a deal with a Mexican state utility to develop a $4.5-billion natural gas pipeline. TC shares ducked $3.01, or 4.6%, to $62.62.
Canopy Growth reported a quarterly loss, as the cannabis producer incurred an impairment charge of $1.72 billion related to its operations. Canopy shares lost 30 cents, or 8.1%, to $3.39.
TD Securities raised the target price on Bombardier to $68.00 from $60.00. Bombardier zoomed $1.48, or 5.7%, to $27.35.
TD Securities raised the target price on Canadian Natural Resources to $92.00 from $91.00. Natural Resources stock triumphed $1.89, or 2.9%, to $67.30.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Trisura Group to $62.00 from $60.00. Trisura shares jumped $1.26, or 3.3%, to $39.83.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reports the economy shed 31,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate was steady at 4.9%.
Also Friday, the IVEY Purchasing Managers Index dwindled to 49.6 in July, way below June's 62.2, and below the 56.4 figure for July 2021
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange backtracked 2.59 points to 657.49.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were lower in the first hour, with health-care down 2.4%, information technology off 2.2%, and gold settling 2%.
The three gainers proved to be energy, up 1.7%, communications, up 0.3%, and financials, richer by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell Friday after the July jobs report was much better than expected, showing a strong labor market that will likely mean more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 8.83 points to begin Friday’s session at 32,717.99
The S&P 500 dipped 2.1 points to 4,149.84.
The NASDAQ Composite sank 15.61 points to 12,705.97.
The labour market added 528,000 jobs in July, easily beating a Dow Jones estimate of a 258,000 increase. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5%, below the 3.6% estimate.
Wage growth also ticked up more than estimated, up 0.5% for the month and 5.2% higher than a year ago, signaling that high inflation is likely still a problem.
Major averages posted their best month since 2020 in July on the hope the Fed would slow the pace of its hikes. The S&P 500 added 9.1% last month. Friday’s losses pushed the index into the red for this week.
Treasury prices wilted in the summer heat, raising yields to 2.84% from Thursday’s 2.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained $1.19 to $89.73 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices demurred $14.80 to $1,792.10 U.S. an ounce.
