Bay Street Ends Week On Sour Note, Blackberry Tumbles -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks faltered Friday, starting the second quarter on a relatively downbeat note amid uncertainty about the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

Meanwhile, falling crude oil prices dragged down energy stocks.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 52.92 points, or 0.4 percent, to 13,440.44, trimming this week's modest gains.

The Energy Index slumped 2.5 percent as crude oil prices tumbled to their lowest in more than two weeks.

May WTI oil settled at $36.79/bbl, down $1.55, or 4 percent. Prices tumbled 6.8 percent this week, but remain well away from February's 13-year low near $26.

Markets considered a fairly strong U.S. jobs report.

U.S. non-farm payroll employment climbed by 215,000 jobs in March after jumping by an upwardly revised 245,000 in February. Economists had expected an increase of about 210,000 jobs compared to the addition of 242,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The unemployment rate inched up to 5.0 percent in March from 4.9 percent in February, as the workforce expanded.

Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) rose 5.7 percent. Bombardier Business Aircraft announced that it has received a firm order for 20 Challenger 350 aircraft valued at approximately US$534 million.

BlackBerry (BB.TO) plunged 7.7 percent. The company reported a loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, compared to net income in the prior year quarter. Overall sales slumped, but software and services revenue continued to grow.