Canadian Stocks Pulled Back On Trade Concerns - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - The Canadian stock market ended Friday's session with a small loss. After a positive start, the market pared its gains for much of the morning and settled into a sideways trend in the afternoon.

Traders kept a close eye on the various reports regarding the trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Traders reacted positively to reports that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have expressed optimism about resolving their bitter trade disputes ahead of a high-stakes meeting at the end of November in Argentina.

However, senior administration officials denied that an agreement is imminent later in the day. Trump's chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC there has been "no massive movement to deal with China."

"We're doing a normal, routine run-through of things that we've already put together and normal preparation," Kudlow said. "We're not on the cusp of a deal."

Employment data was also in focus at the end of the trading week. A report from Statistics Canada this morning showed that the Canadian economy added 11,200 jobs in October. Economists had expected an increase of 15,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate also dipped to 5.8 percent, from 5.9 percent last month. Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged.

A closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than anticipated in the month of October. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged up by 250,000 jobs in October after rising by a downwardly revised 118,000 jobs in September.

Economists had expected an increase of about 190,000 jobs compared to the addition of 134,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate in October was unchanged from the previous month at 3.7 percent, its lowest level since hitting 3.5 percent in December of 1969.

A separate report from Statistics Canada this morning showed that the Canadian trade deficit narrowed to C$416 million in September. Economists had expected surplus of C$150 million.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 30.87 points or 0.20 percent at 15,119.28.

On Thursday, the index closed up by 122.87 points or 0.82 percent, at 15,150.15. The index scaled an intraday high of 15,150.15 and a low of 15,029.18.

Healthcare and financial stocks were among the best performers of the session, while, energy and information technology stocks were under pressure.

The majority of the European markets ended Friday's session with modest gains, while markets on Wall Street failed to hold early gains and finished solidly in the red. Saputo Inc. (SAP.TO) reported net income of $163.1 million for the second quarter ending Sept. 30, 2018. down 11.9% compared to its income in the year-ago quarter.

Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (GOOS.TO) announced that it would acquire Baffin Inc. to expand into footwear business. The company said that it will pay $32.5 million for Baffin, which focuses mostly on outdoor and industrial boots but added a clothing line in 2011.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (FFH.TO) reported third quarter net income of US$106.2 million, or US$3.34 per diluted share after dividends, down from the US$476.9 million or US$16.42 per share for the same quarter last year.

Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO) reported adjusted earnings of $933 million or $0.55 per common share for the third quarter, compared to $632 million or $0.39 per common share in the third quarter of 2017.