TSX Falls 1% As Materials Shares Tumble

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market ended notably lower on Friday, hurt by sharp losses in materials and real estate sectors. Fading hopes of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September following data showing a stronger than expected growth in U.S. non-farm payroll employment weighed as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down by 222.10 points or 1% at 22,007.00, slightly off the day's low of 22,002.68. The index, which opened about 90 points down, stayed in negative territory right through the day's session. The index shed about 1.2% in the week.

Data from Statistics Canada showed employment in Canada rose by 26,700 jobs in May 2024, following an addition of 90,400 increase in the previous month and surpassing forecasts of 22,500.

The unemployment rate in Canada rose to 6.2% in May from 6.1% in the earlier month, the highest since October of 2021.

Meanwhile, average hourly earnings in Canada increased by C$1.77 from the previous year to C$36.01 in May, following a 4.8% increase in April.

In the U.S., data from the Labor Department showed non-farm payroll employment surged by 272,000 jobs in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 165,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 185,000 jobs compared to the addition of 175,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate crept up to 4% in May from 3.9% in April. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged. With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting a matching rate in January 2022.

The Materials Capped Index tumbled 4.19%. The Real Estate Capped Index drifted down 1.62% and the Utilities Capped Index ended down 1.01%, while the indices measuring the movements of industrials, energy and consumer discretionary stocks dropped by 0.92%, 0.88% and 0.71%, respectively.

Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and GFL Environmental (GFL.TO) lost 7.3%, 6.5% and 5%, respectively.

Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM.TO), Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), Newmont Corporation (NGT.TO), Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) and Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) ended down by 2.5% to 4.8%.

Saputo Inc (SAP.TO) and North West Company (NWC.TO) climbed 6.8% and 6.3%, respectively. Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO) and TFI International (TFII.TO) gained 1 to 2.5%.