07.02.202517:18:00UTC+00Canadian Market Modestly Lower After Jobs Data

The Canadian market experienced a downturn on Friday, following news that the country's unemployment rate had fallen, reducing the likelihood of a rate cut by the Bank of Canada in March.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined by 82.22 points, or 0.32%, reaching 25,452.21 shortly after midday.

Sectors such as healthcare and communications saw notable losses, with real estate and technology stocks also showing some fragility. Conversely, energy stocks showed resilience, with a few stocks in the materials and consumer staples sectors recording slight gains.

Statistics Canada reported a rise in employment by 76,000 in January 2025, continuing a six-month trend of job increases. This follows December 2024's addition of 91,000 jobs. Canada's unemployment rate decreased to 6.6% in January 2025, down from 6.7% in December, and was below the anticipated 6.8%.

Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO) shares plummeted nearly 25%, as the company revealed a third-quarter net loss of $122 million, or $1.11 per share, compared to a $217 million loss, or $2.62 per share, in the same quarter of the previous year. Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) dropped nearly 6%, while Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) fell by 1.4%.

In the Communications Capped Index, BCE Inc (BCE.TO) experienced the largest decline, down 3.7%. Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) and Telus Corp (T.TO) decreased by 1.1% and 1.2%, respectively.

Within the energy sector, Arc Resources (ARX.TO) increased by over 6%, and both Paramount Resources (POU.TO) and Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO) saw gains of 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively. Other energy stocks, such as Baytex Energy (BTE.TO), Parex Resources (PXT.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV.TO), Prairiesky Royalty (PSK.TO), and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO), rose between 1% and 2%.

In U.S. economic developments, the University of Michigan reported an unexpected decline in consumer sentiment for February, influenced by rising inflation expectations for the year ahead. Their consumer sentiment index dropped to 67.8 in February, down from 71.1 in January, contrary to economists' predictions of a slight increase to 72.0.

The U.S. Labor Department disclosed that non-farm payroll employment grew by 143,000 jobs in January, below economist predictions of 170,000. However, employment in December and November was revised upwards to 307,000 and 261,000 respectively, resulting in a net revision increase of 100,000 jobs. The unemployment rate in January fell to 4% from December's 4.1%, defying expectations that it would remain unchanged.