Canadian Stocks Turning In Mixed Performance

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down marginally in late afternoon trade on Friday with stocks turning in a mixed performance as investors digest the jobs data, a slew of earnings updates, and weighing possible interest rate moves by the Canadian central bank and the Federal Reserve.

Energy and utilities shares are up with strong gains, while shares from consumer discretionary, technology, healthcare and materials sectors are notable lower.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 4.94 points at 20,592.81, nearly 100 points off a low of 20,484.50 in early trades.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that the employment increased by 150,000 jobs in January, after rising by 104,000 jobs in the previous month. Economists had expected employment to climb by 15,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate held steady at 5% in January. The rate was expected to rise to 5.1%.

Following the upbeat jobs data, the loonie rose to a one-month high against the U.S. dollar.

Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) reported that its fourth quarter adjusted earnings per common share declined to C$0.63 from C$0.68, prior year. Adjusted profit declined to C$1.27 billion from C$1.38 billion. The stock is up 1.8%.

Magna International Inc. (MG.TO) shares are down more than 16% after the company reported fourth-quarter net income of $95 million, compared with net income of $464 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.91, compared to prior year's $1.30.

Fortis Inc. (FTS.TO) shares are up nearly 4%. The company reported fourth quarter net earnings of C$370 million or C$0.77 per share, up from C$328 million or C$0.63 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Aritzia Inc (ATZ.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO), Sleep Country Canada Holdings (ZZZ.TO), Spin Master Corp (TOY.TO) and Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) are up 2.5 to 4.3%.

Technology stock Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT.TO) is plunging more than 10%. Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) is down 7.6% and Dye & Durham (DND.TO) is declining 6%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), BlackBerry (BB.TO) and Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) are also down sharply.

Healthcare stocks Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), Cronos Group (CRON.TO) and Bellus Health Inc (BLU.TO) are down 2 to 2.7%.

Energy stocks MEG Energy (MEG.TO), Athabasca Oil Corp (ATH.TO), Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO), Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) are gaining 3 to 4.5%.

In the materials section, Ssr Mining Inc (SSRM.TO) is tumbling nearly 10%. Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Filo Mining Corp (FIL.TO), Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO), Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) are down 3 to 6%.