Canadian Market Down Firmly In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is down firmly in negative territory Friday afternoon, with losses in materials, communications and utilities sectors offsetting a fine performance by stocks in the technology space.

Upbeat earnings updates from U.S. tech majors Amazon, Meta Platforms, Apple Inc. and triggered brisk buying in the technology space, resulting in the Information Technology Capped Index rising more than 1.6%.

In addition to digesting earnings updates, investors are reacting to U.S. non-farm payrolls data.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 91.67 points or 0.44% at 21,027.54.

In the communications sector, BCE Inc (BCE.TO) is down 4%, Telus Corp (T.TO) is declining 2.8%, Cogeco Communications (CCA.TO) is lower by 2.2%, and Quebecor Inc (QBR.B.TO) is down 2%.

Materials shares Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Interfor Corp (IFP.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO), Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO), Lithium Americas Corp (LAC.TO) and Kinross Gold Corp (K.TO) are down 4 to 5%. Ero Copper (ERO.TO), Pan Americas Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), Iamgold Corp (IMG.TO), Novagold Resources (NG.TO), Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) and Ssr Mining Inc (SSRM.TO) are also down sharply.

In the utilities sector, Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP.UN.TO), Innergex Renewable Energy (INE.TO), Boralex Inc (BLX.TO), Brookfield Infra Partners (BIP.UN.TO), Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (AQN.TO) and Fortis Inc (FTS.TO) are down 2 to 2.5%.

Energy stocks Kelt Exploration (KEL.TO), Enerplus Corp (ERF.TO), Nuvista Energy (NU.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU.TO), Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO), Shawcor (MATR.TO) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) are down 1.3 to 3.3%.

Among technology stocks, Sylogist Ltd (SYZ.TO) is soaring nearly 9%, and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) is gaining 6.3%. Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO) and Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) are up 2.6% and 2.3%, respectively. CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO) and Copperleaf Technologies (CPLF.TO) are also notably higher.

Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) is down 2.6%. The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $566.3 million for the second-quarter, up 66.1% over the adjusted EBITDA of $340.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

The Labor Department's data today showed non-farm payroll employment spiked by 353,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 180,000 jobs.

The report also showed significantly stronger than previously reported job growth in December, with employment surging by 333,000 jobs during the month compared to the jump of 216,000 jobs that had been reported.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate in January came in unchanged from the previous month at 3.7%. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to inch up to 3.8%.