Canada’s main stock index fell on Friday, with materials shares leading the sectoral losses, after stronger-than-expected jobs data in the United States pushed investors to slash bets on a September rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 128.99 points to reach noon EDT at 22,100.11.
The Canadian dollar folded 0.46 cents to 72.70 cents U.S.
In company news, Canada’s biggest oil sands producers extended their support for a tax on carbon but see a proposed federal oil and gas emissions cap as “unnecessary legislation”, the CEOs of these companies told lawmakers in Ottawa on Thursday.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reports the economy created 27,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate moved up to 6.2% from 6.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 8.41 points, or 1.4%, to 593.57.
All but three of the 12 subgroups were negative by noon, with gold dulling in price 4.7%, materials off 3.5%, and real-estate, falling 1.2%.
The three gainers were consumer staples, up 0.7%, information technology, up 0.6%, and health-care, improving 0.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 touched a fresh record on Friday, with stocks poised to end the week higher despite a stronger-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 79.95 points to 38,966.12.
The much-broader index gained 4.46 points to 5,357.72.
The NASDAQ lost 7.64 points to 17,165.48.
All three of the major averages are on pace for a winning week. The Dow has a 0.3% gain, while the S&P 500 is higher by 1.1% and the NASDAQ is on pace for a 2.2% advance.
Chipmaker and artificial intelligence darling Nvidia slipped roughly 1.4%. Technology stocks including Meta Platforms and Alphabet traded marginally lower.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 272,000 in May, above the 190,000 estimate from Dow Jones and April’s 175,000. Average hourly wages increased 0.4% last month and ticked up 4.1% from a year ago. However, even with the job gains the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4%.
Investors had been hoping for weak jobs figures that would give the Fed the green light to cut rates, but not so dim as to indicate a recession.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell sharply, raising yields to 4.41% from Thursday’s 4.28%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices removed one cent to $75.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gave way $63.80 to $2,327.20
