Canada’s main stock index dropped some of its strength on Friday, propped up by gains in mining and industrial shares and strong jobs data.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tumbled 81.59 points to greet noon at 15,925.08
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.19 cents to 77.24 cents U.S.
Canadian markets are closed Monday for Thanksgiving Day.
Tech stocks were bruised, particularly BlackBerry, off 36 cents, or 2.7%, to $12.91, while Shopify plummeted $7.38, or 3.8%, to $184.87
Among energy concerns, Suncor trailed Thursday’s close by 61 cents, or 1.4%, to $51.07, while Canadian Natural Resources let go of 49 cents, or 1.2%, to $41.62.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Canadian Tire faded $1.26 to $149.99, while Magna International fell $2.38, or 3.5%, to $65.34.
Industrials offered something positive out of the gloom, with Canadian Pacific Railway chugging along $5.36, or 1.9%, to $285.44, and rival Canadian National gaining $1.01 to $117.60
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 63,000 jobs in September, driven by an increase in part-time employment. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 5.9%.
Elsewhere, the agency said its Canada’s merchandise trade balance with the world was in a surplus position for the first time since December 2016. The $526-million surplus followed a $189-million deficit in July. Imports fell 2.5% and exports were down 1.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved backward 0.19 points to 702.84
All but one of the 12 subgroups were lower midday, as information technology fell 1.4%, energy was 1.3% less energetic and consumer discretionary got punished 1%
Only industrials held out against the negative tide, gaining 0.6%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks fell sharply on Friday after the release of mixed employment data jolted interest rates higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 245.95 points to break for lunch at 26,381.53, as Intel lagged.
The S&P 500 slouched 24.41 points to 2,877.20, as the tech sector underperformed.
The NASDAQ declined 124.89 points, or 1.6%, to 7,754.63, as Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet all traded lower.
Tech was the worst-performing sector on Friday, dropping more than 1.5%. Nvidia and Analog Devices were among the worst-performing stocks in the sector, falling at least 3% each.
The U.S. economy added 134,000 in September, well below the expected gain of 185,000. However, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 1969.
Job gains for August also received a sharp upward revision to an addition of 270,000 jobs from 201,000. Wages, meanwhile, grew by 2.8% last month on a year-over-year basis to match expectations.
Other economic data released Friday include the U.S. trade deficit, which widened to $53.2 billion in August even amid an ongoing trade spat between the States and some of its key trade partners.
Over the past 12 months, the deficit is up $31 billion or 8.6%.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury lost lots of ground, raising yields to 3.24% from Thursday’s 3.19%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices revived 36 cents at $74.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained four dollars to $1,205.60 U.S. an ounce.