Canadian stocks faced significant declines on Friday following stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data, heightening concerns that the Federal Reserve may maintain current interest rates for a prolonged period. Similarly, a positive Canadian employment report has lessened the likelihood of immediate monetary easing from the Bank of Canada.
At approximately a quarter past noon, the S&P/TSX Composite Index had dropped 358.70 points, or 1.43%, to 24,714.66. Sectors including healthcare, technology, financials, communications, utilities, and real estate experienced sharp declines. The consumer staples sector also saw several stocks down notably, while energy stocks bucked the trend and rose, driven by higher crude oil prices.
Statistics Canada reported a robust increase in Canadian employment, with a gain of 91,000 jobs in December 2024, marking the largest rise since January 2023 and following a 51,000 increase in the previous month. Concurrently, Canada's unemployment rate decreased to 6.7% in December, a slight improvement from 6.8% the previous month.
In the United States, the Labor Department revealed a surge in non-farm payroll employment, which jumped by 256,000 jobs in December, following a downwardly revised increase of 212,000 jobs in November. The U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in December from 4.2% in November, against expectations for it to remain unchanged.
Among the stocks declining 3% to 6% were Telesat Corporation (TSAT.TO), Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), Propel Holdings (PRL.TO), Ag Growth International (AFN.TO), and Colliers International (CIGI.TO). Additionally, goeasy (GSY.TO), TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO), Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc (ATD.TO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), WSP Global (WSP.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO), Thomson Reuters Corporation (TRI.TO), ONEX Corporation (ONEX.TO), Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO), George Weston (WN.TO), and Loblaw Companies (L.TO) fell between 1% and 3%.
On a positive note, Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO) saw a substantial increase of 12.3%, bolstered by an impressive 57.5% rise in adjusted net income, reaching $83.0 million for the third quarter compared to the previous year.
Other stocks showing gains included Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC.TO), Maple Leaf Foods (MFI.TO), Aura Minerals (ORA.TO), Gildan Activewear (GIL.TO), MEG Energy Corp (MEG.TO), Lundin Gold (LUG.TO), and Suncor Energy (SU.TO), each rising between 2% and 5%.
Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B.TO) reported a net income of $11.9 million for the quarter ending November 30, 2024, a decrease from $32.7 million in the same quarter the previous year.
In contrast, Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY.TO) experienced a sharp decline, plunging over 12%, following the announcement of an adjusted net loss of $2 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to a $3 million loss in the same quarter the preceding year.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
www.instaforex.com
