Canadian Market Up Marginally In Cautious Trade After Jobs Data

The Canadian market is up slightly a little past noon on Friday as stocks turn in a mixed performance with investors digesting the nation’s jobs data for the month of January and assessing the likely move the central bank with regard to interest rates.

Investors are also reacting to a slew of earnings announcements, in addition to tracking the trend in the commodities markets.

Technology stocks are gaining ground in positive territory. Consumer discretionary and materials shares are weak, while shares from the rest of the sectors are exhibiting a mixed trend.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 10.40 points or 0.05% at 20,930.04 a few minutes past noon. The index dropped to 20,891.13 after advancing to 20,974.87.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that employment in Canada rose by 37,300 in January, following an upwardly revised addition of 12,300 jobs in December. The unemployment rate in Canada eased to 5.7% in January from the 22-month high of 5.8% recorded in December.

A separate data from Statistics Canada showed average hourly earnings in Canada rose by 5.3% year-on-year to $35.51 in January, slowing from 5.7% increase in the previous month.

Hut 8 Corp (HUT.TO), up 8.7%, is the top gainer in the technology sector. Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO) is gaining 6.2% and Converge Technology Solutions (CTS.TO) is rising 5%, while Dye & Durham (DND.TO) is advancing 3.2%. Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO), Alithya Corp (ALYA.TO), Open Text Corp (OTEX.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) and Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO) are also up with strong gains.

Consumer discretionary stock Magna International (MG.TO) is plunging nearly 8%. The company reported a net income of $271 million for the quarter ended December 2023, compared to net income of $95 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Linamar Corporation (LNR.TO) is down 2.7%, while Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS.TO) is down 1.4%.

Materials shares New Gold Inc (NG.TO), Torex Gold Resources (TXG.TO), Eldorado Gold (ELD.TO), Teck Resources…