Equities in Canada’s largest centre edged lower on Friday, as data reflecting a resilient labour market refueled investor angst on whether the Bank of Canada would continue to keep its monetary tightening campaign suspended.
The TSX sagged 152.28 points to begin the week’s last session at 19.934.44.
The Canadian dollar grew 0.19 cents to 72.50 cents U.S.
Among company news, BMO downgraded Shawcor to "market perform" from "outperform". Shawcor shares grabbed 22 cents, or 1.9%, to $11.79.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada says employment held steady in February at 22,000, a gain of a slight 0.1%, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 3.9 points to 613.84.
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups went red in the first hour, as health-care issues were bruised 2.3%, information technology clicked 2.2% lower, and financials lost 1.8%.
The three gainers proved to be gold, up 3.6%, materials, ahead 1.6%, and energy, better by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell again on Friday as banking shares came under pressure in the wake of troubles at Silicon Valley Bank, a lender to the tech sector facing big bond losses.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 92.37 points to open Friday at 32,172.49
The S&P 500 shed 23.05 points to 3,895.27.
The NASDAQ Composite fell 97.86 points to 11,240.50.
SVB Financial tumbled again on Friday, dropping another 63% in the premarket before being halted through the open. The stock has been under massive pressure after the company announced plans to raise more than $2 billion in capital in a bid to offset losses from bond sales.
Some media reported that the bank was in talks to sell itself after attempts to raise capital failed. Rapid deposits outflows, however, are outpacing the sale process, complicating the ability to realistically assess the bank.
The crisis at SVB hurt other banks as well as the broader financial sector, with the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF down more than 4% and on pace for its worst week since 2008. Several banks were halted repeatedly Friday, including First Republic, PacWest and crypto-focused Signature Bank, which were last down by 17% to 25%.
Bellwethers Bank of America and Goldman Sachs fell by smaller amounts, losing about 2% each.
Wall Street is coming off a sharp downturn, with the Dow losing more than 500 points Thursday. For the week, the Dow is down 3.4%, on pace for its worst week since September 2022, while the S&P 500 is off 3.2%
Traders also digested the February jobs report, which gave some hints that inflation could be slowing. Payrolls increased more than expected, but investors focused on the smaller-than-expected gain in wages, which could cause the Federal Reserve to rethink more aggressive on rate hikes.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury popped, lowering yields 3.72% from Thursday’s 3.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices acquired 36 cents to $76.08 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $28.80 to $1,863.40 U.S. an ounce.
