TSX hits a 3-week low as jobs data stokes growth concerns

By Fergal Smith

(Reuters) -Canada's main stock index fell to a more than three-week low on Friday, weighed by declines in technology and commodity-linked shares, as U.S. and Canadian jobs data added to investor concerns about a slowdown in the economy.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 206.85 points, or 0.9%, at 22,781.43, its fourth straight day of declines and its lowest closing level since Aug. 13.

For the week, the index lost 2.4%, its first weekly decline in five weeks. Major U.S. indexes posted even steeper declines on Friday.

"Investors are pricing in the reality of slower economic growth," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.

"You look at what's going on across the cyclical sectors, whether it's energy, materials, industrials, consumer discretionary, they're all down."

U.S. employment increased less than expected in August and Canada's unemployment rate rose to 6.6%, its highest level in more than seven years after excluding the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

"The (Canadian) economy isn't growing fast enough to absorb the new labor entrants, and that's a concern," Petursson said.

The energy sector fell 1.5% as the price of oil extended its recent declines, settling 2.1% lower at $67.67 a barrel.

Gold and copper prices also fell, weighing on metal mining shares. The materials sector, which includes miners and fertilizer companies, ended 2% lower.

Technology fell 1.7%, with shares of Celestica Inc tumbling 10.2% to a seven-month low.

Enghouse Systems Ltd was a bright spot. Shares of the application software company climbed 5.6% on better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Japanese retail giant Seven & I Holdings said it had turned down Alimentation Couche-Tard's $38.5 billion cash bid, rejecting an offer that would be the largest-ever foreign buyout of a Japanese company.

Shares of Couche-Tard ended 1.9% higher.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Jonathan Oatis)