Canadian Stocks End Strong Week With A Thud -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks failed to hold early gains on Friday, settling in negative territory as traders assessed some mixed economic data from both sides of the border.

The Labor Department said U.S. non-farm payroll employment rose by 192,000 jobs in March compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 200,000 jobs.

While the March results were slightly disappointing, upward revisions to the January and February numbers suggest the jobs situation was not as dire as feared over the winter.

Meanwhile, the Canadian economy created a better-than-expected 42,900 jobs in March, driving the nation's unemployment rate down to 6.9 percent.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 9 points to 14,393.10, but finished higher by about 1 percent for the week.

Health care stocks were hit hard today. S&P/TSX Capped Health Care Index was down 2.5 percent.

Energy stocks were up fractionally as crude oil futures jumped above $101 a barrel.

Air Canada (AC.B.TO) soared 26 percent following a rating upgrade from Scotia after the company said its first quarter results will beat expectations. It had said earlier that there will be a shortfall of $15 million to $30 million, compared with the first quarter of last year.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) was down nearly 3 percent. T-Mobile Inc. has offered customers who use BlackBerry Ltd. phones a $100 credit to use toward any new device, including the BlackBerry Q10 or Z10.