The TSX composite closed Thursday at 36,136.31, down 10.11 points, or 0.03 percent, easing from Wednesday's record high as technology and consumer discretionary names led the index lower. Only two of the ten major sectors finished in positive territory: materials gained 0.5 percent and energy rose 0.6 percent, tracking a rebound in crude prices.
ATS Corp was the session's worst performer, plunging nearly 27 percent after the industrial automation company's second-quarter results missed analyst estimates. Celestica fell almost 13 percent after the data centre infrastructure company priced a common share offering at a significant discount to its prior close. Technology as a sector fell 1.5 percent and consumer discretionary dropped 1.8 percent.
The Movers Beneath the Headline Number
Restaurant Brands International topped second-quarter same-store sales estimates on resilient Burger King demand in the United States, but its shares still closed 1.9 percent lower. Lundin Mining fell nearly 3 percent despite reporting higher second-quarter revenue. Financial stocks closed mixed: Brookfield fell 1.1 percent and Scotiabank lost 0.2 percent, while RBC and TD Bank edged higher. Canadian Natural gained 1.6 percent after beating second-quarter profit estimates, and Shopify rose 2.2 percent after at least six brokerages raised their price targets on the stock.
ATS Corp missed second-quarter analyst estimates. Celestica priced a common share offering at a discount to its prior close. Restaurant Brands beat same-store sales estimates but still closed lower.
Friday's Setup: A Jobs Divergence That Points TSX Futures Higher
Canada added 75,100 jobs in July, more than four times the consensus forecast, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent, its lowest in two years. The same morning, the United States reported a loss of 23,000 jobs against a forecast gain of 83,000. TSX futures moved higher on the combination: the strong Canadian print and the soft US number together eased pressure on Canadian financial stocks by limiting the odds of a hawkish Federal Reserve response, even as it modestly firms the case for an eventual Bank of Canada move if energy prices stay elevated.
Gold pushed toward the $4,300 mark as receding US rate hike expectations lifted mining names, a tailwind for the materials sector that closed Thursday's session already in the green. WTI traded choppily between roughly $76.70 and $78.50 as markets continued digesting the reported Iran-Oman shipping agreement, keeping energy stocks in a holding pattern rather than a clear direction. The Canadian dollar gained close to half a cent against the US dollar on the divergence, with USD/CAD easing toward 1.4012 from Thursday's levels near 1.4020.