Stocks May Steady Despite Uptick In Canadian Unemployment -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Toronto stocks are likely to waver a bit Friday morning, with an official report showing Canadian unemployment to have risen unexpectedly last month.

A recovery in European markets after Thursday's sell-off and bargain hunting could help lift stocks to an extent.

Lower crude oil prices may render energy stocks weak. Gold stocks are likely to see some profit taking after recent gains.

On Thursday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 100.71 points or 0.66 percent at 15,114.48, after scaling an intraday high of 15,214.35 and a low of 15,100.15.

In corporate new, Transition Therapeutics Inc. (TTH.TO) announced that it has appointed Carl Damiani as its Chief Operating Officer. Damiani has held the roles of Vice-President of Business Development and Director of Business Development, since joining Transition in 2003.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.TO) will be in focus after a workers union at the company's railcar production unit threatening to strike on Monday. Meanwhile, Bomardier Aerospace said Thursday that it is aiming to strengthen commercial aircraft networks in Latin America, Middle East and the Caribbean regions.

In commodities, crude oil prices are lower on easing worries about supplies. Crude oil futures for August are down $0.68 or 0.66 percent at $102.27 a barrel.

Natural gas for August is up $0.015 or 0.37 percent at $4.136 per million btu.

Gold futures for August are down $2.20 or 0.16 percent at $1,337.00 an ounce.

Silver for September is down $0.030 or 0.14 percent at $21.478 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is down $0.011 or 0.35 percent at $3.256 per pound.

In the currency market, the Canadian loonie is trading at 1.0698 against the U.S. dollar, down 0.45 percent from previous close.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada's report showed Canadian unemployment to have risen to 7.1 percent in June, up from 7.0 percent in the previous month.

The report showed employment change to have declined to a seasonally adjusted -9.4 thousand in June, from 25.8 thousand in May.