TSX Snaps 4-session Winning Streak, Ends Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - After opening weak and sliding further in mid morning trades, the Canadian stock market came off the days lows, and despite gradually paring gains, still ended on a negative note on Friday.

Fading chances of a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve after stronger-than-expected U.S.jobs data and a sharp fall in gold prices rendered the market weak. Investors also digested Canadian jobs data.

Lingering concerns about global growth and anxiety ahead of resumption of U.S.-China trade talks also weighed on the market.

Materials shares were the most prominent losers. Energy stocks regained some lost ground as the day progressed. Healthcare and information technology stocks were weak.

Consumer staples, consumer discretionary, utilities and financial shares were mostly sluggish. Telecom stocks found some support.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 46.86 points, or 0.28%, at 16,541.99, after being down nearly 120 points at 16,469.92 at one stage. The index shed nearly 1% in the week.

In the materials space, Novagold Resources (NG.TO), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN.TO), First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.B.TO), SSR Mining (SSRM.TO), Kirkland Lake Gold (KL.TO), Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO) and Iamgold Corp. (IMG.TO) lost 2 to 3.4%.

Kinross Gold (K.TO) and Canfor Corp. (CFP.TO) also declined sharply.

Among energy shares, Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) and Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) shed 1 to 1.25%. Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) ended stronger by 1 to 2.3%.

Among information technology shares, Photon Control (PHO.TO) shed 2.6% and Kinaxis Inc. (KXS.TO) declined 1.5%. On the other hand, Quarterhill Inc. (QTRH.TO) ended stronger by about 6.7%.

Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO), Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), Hexo Corp (HEXO.TO), Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) and CannTrust Holdings (TRST.TO) were the notable losers in the healthcare index.

Among bank stocks, Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), CDN Western Bank (CWB.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) ended modestly higher, while Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) declined marginally.

In economic news, the Canadian economy lost 2.2 thousand jobs in June of 2019, after creating 27.7 thousand in the previous month, data from Statistics Canada showed. Markets were expecting a creation of 10 thousand jobs.

The unemployment rate in Canada rose to 5.5% in June of 2019 from 5.4% in the previous month, in line with market expectations. Employment decreased by 2,200, after creating 27,700 in May and missing market consensus of a 10,000 gain.

The Ivey PMI for Canada fell to 52.4 in June 2019 from 55.9 in the previous month and missing market expectations of 55.0. It was the lowest reading since February.

U.S. stocks closed in the red despite climbing well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow and the S&P 500 both ended lower by 0.2%, while the Nasdaq edged down by 0.1%.

The U.S. Labor Department data said employment surged up by 224,000 jobs in June after edging up by a downwardly revised 72,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 160,000 jobs compared to the addition of 75,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

However, the unemployment rate inched up to 3.7% in June from 3.6% in May. The unemployment rate had been expected to hold steady.

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended mostly higher amid light trading activity on Friday. Meanwhile, most of the markets across Europe settled lower.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended up $0.17, or 0.3%, at $57.51 a barrel.

Gold futures for August ended down $20.80, or 1.5%, at $1,400.10 an ounce.

Silver futures for September ended down $0.335, at $15.001 an ounce, while Copper futures for September settled lower by $0.0220, at $2.6610 per pound.