Canadian Market Modestly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - After staying somewhat sluggish till around noon, Canadian stocks are finding some meaningful support in afternoon trades on Friday even as the mood continues to remain cautious.

Data showing a much smaller than expected addition in U.S. jobs in the month of August is weighing on sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 44.14 or 0.2% at 20,839.26.

Materials shares are faring well, contributing significantly to market's modest uptick. A few stocks from information technology sector are also moving up. Healthcare stocks are weak, while stocks from other sectors are turning in a mixed performance.

New Gold Inc. (NGD.TO), up 11%, is the top gainer in the Capped Materials Index, which is up more than 2%. Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR.TO) is climbing 7.5%, while Silvercorp Metals (SVM.TO), Equinox Gold Corp (EQX.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Interfor Corp (IFP.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Osisko Mining (OSK.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO) and Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO) are gaining 4 to 5%.

Healthcare shares Organigram Holdings (OGI.TO), Canopy Growth Corp (WEED.TO), Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Cronos Group Inc (CRON.TO) are down 2 to 3.5%.

In Canadian economic news, labour productivity in Canada edged up 0.6% in the second quarter, rebounding from a 1.7% decline in the previous quarter.

In the U.S., the Labor Department's monthly employment report showed non-farm payroll employment rose by 235,000 jobs in August after soaring by an upwardly revised 1.053 million jobs in July.

Economists had expected employment to jump by about 750,000 jobs compared to the spike of 943,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Despite the much weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate fell to 5.2% in August from 5.4% in July, matching economist estimates.

The weak jobs data could prompt the Federal Reserve to push back its plans to begin scaling back stimulus.

Fed officials have indicated inflation has reached their target but they need to see further improvement in the labor market before they begin tapering asset purchases and raising interest rates.