Be smart with your money. Get the latest investing insights delivered right to your inbox three times a week, with the Globe Investor newsletter. Sign up today.
Equities
Canada’s main stock index slid at the start of trading Friday despite a positive reading on hiring in the Canadian economy, with weakness in energy shares weighing. On Wall Street, key indexes saw a cautious start in the wake of a weaker-thank-expected December jobs report.
At 9:33 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 13.85 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 21,058.35.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.12 points, or 0.04 per cent, at the open to 36,249.59.
The S&P 500 opened higher by 1.61 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 4,697.66, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 14.85 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 15,095.72 at the opening bell.
Key for markets on Friday will be employment readings on both sides of the border.
New figures showed the U.S. economy created 199,000 new jobs in December, falling far short of market forecasts. Economists had been expecting to see the creation of more than 400,000 positions. Traders were watching the report for further hints about the direction of monetary policy from the Federal Reserve in coming months.
Earlier this week, minutes from the Fed’s most recent meeting raised the spectre of a faster-than-expected move on interest rates by the central bank as well as a quicker removal of other stimulus.
In Canada, Statistics Canada said the economy generated 55,000 new jobs. Markets had been expecting to see a gain closer to 20,000 positions after the surprise 153,700 jump in jobs in November.
“With the survey period coming relatively early in the month (December 5-11) it would have captured a high point for the Canadian economy,” CIBC economist Andrew Grantham said.
“Disruptions from flooding in BC should have been easing, while on the other hand tightening restrictions on service industries to battle the Omicron wave hit closer to month-end. The further tightening of restrictions at the start of January likely sets us up for a notable decline in the jobs tally to start 2022, albeit maybe not as large as in prior virus waves given that companies may be reluctant to let staff go due to the difficulties they faced recruiting in the reopening phase.”
On the corporate side, The Globe’s Vanmala Subramaniam reports that beleaguered cannabis producer CannTrust Holdings Inc. is facing severe liquidity issues and might be shutting down its business entirely in the near term if it cannot find new investors or strategic partners imminently. In a statement released Thursday, the company said it had “faced challenges” and “does not have sufficient liquidity to operate beyond the near term,” despite attempting to restructure its ailing business by filing for creditor protection last July.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.25 per cent in morning trading after sharp declines during the previous session. Germany’s DAX slid 0.30 per cent while France’s CAC 40 fell 0.16 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.10 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished down 0.03 per cent, shedding gains seen earlier in the session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.82 per cent.
Commodities
Crude prices were on track for a weekly gains with unrest in Kazakhstan and outages in Libya heightening concerns about supply.
The day range on Brent is US$81.97 to US$82.98. The range on West Texas Intermediate is US$79.47 to US$80.46. Both benchmarks are up more than 6 per cent on the week.
Reuters reports that security forces appeared to be in control of the streets of Kazakhstan’s main city Almaty on Friday and the president said constitutional order had mostly been restored, a day after Russia sent troops to put down an uprising.
Oil production at Kazakhstan’s top field Tengiz was reduced on Thursday, its operator Chevron said, as some contractors disrupted train lines in support of protests taking place across the central Asian country, the news agency said.
Prices were also underpinned by production declines in Libya as a result of pipeline maintenance. Production in Libya has dropped to 729,000 barrels per day, down from a high of 1.3 million bpd last year.
In other commodities, gold were steady.
Spot gold was little changed at US$1,789.00 per ounce by early Friday morning after falling for two straight sessions, putting it on track for a weekly loss of roughly 2 per cent.
U.S. gold futures were little changed at US$1,788.10.
“Given the price action overnight, it appears that gold is still vulnerable to higher U.S. yields and a higher U.S. dollar,” OANDA senior analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
“Any rallies should be approached with a great deal of caution and skepticism.”
Currencies
The Canadian dollar was firmer while its U.S. counterpart pulled back slightly but still looked set for weekly gains against a group of world currencies.
The day range on the loonie is 78.53 US cents to 78.70 US cents.
The Canadian dollar held early gains after the release of the latest employment figures.
On world markets, the U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against major peers, was down 0.14 per cent at 96.126 but set for weekly gains of about 0.5 per cent, according to figures from Reuters.
The euro rose 0.13 per cent to US$1.1315 in morning trading in Europe but was down about 0.5 per cent for the week.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was down modestly at 1.725 per cent in the early predawn period.
More company news
GameStop Corp is launching a division to develop a marketplace for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and establish cryptocurrency partnerships, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news citing people familiar with the matter. The video game retailer is undergoing a revamp, with Chairman Ryan Cohen tapping executives from companies including Amazon.com Inc to turn GameStop away from brick-and-mortar and towards e-commerce. Shares were up more than 18 per cent in premarket trading.
Economic news
(830 am ET) Canada employment report for December.
(830 am ET) U.S. nonfarm payrolls for December.
(3 pm ET) U.S. consumer credit.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press
Terry Weber