The Canadian stock market experienced a slight decline in the early Friday afternoon as investors consumed new job data and multiple business earnings updates.
Canada's premier S&P/TSX Composite Index experienced a drop of 34.43 points, standing at 22,341.40, about half an hour after noon.
According to newly released data from Statistics Canada, the country's employment rate saw an addition of 90,400 jobs in April 2024, signifying the largest gain in 15 months. This follows a minor decrease of 2,200 jobs recorded in March of the same year.
Canada's unemployment rate maintained a steady rate of 6.1% for April 2024, equal to the highest figure in the past two years documented in the preceding month.
Average hourly earnings in Canada also saw an increase, with a rise of C$1.64 from the previous year, reaching C$35.77 by April 2024, as revealed by a separate set of data from Statistics Canada.
Certain sectors such as technology and energy endured significant losses. However, others like consumer staples, healthcare, and consumer discretionary witnessed some gains.
Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. witnessed a decline of 1.7% following a net loss for the first quarter that amounted to a substantial $89.1 million compared to a profit of $270.1 million in the preceding year.
However, Enbridge Inc enjoyed a 1% uptick. The company reported adjusted earnings increased to $2.0 billion or $0.92 per share for the first quarter of 2024 compared to $1.7 billion or $0.85 per share in 2023.
Onex Corporation registered a 2% decline. The company reported a net profit of US$10 million for the first quarter of this year, as opposed to a net loss of $232 million in the same quarter of the previous year.
Crescent Point Energy also reported a net loss of $411.7 million for the quarter that ended in March 2024, a drastic difference from the net profit of $216.7 million notched a year ago.
Finally, CI Financial Corp experienced a nearly 9% drop. The company announced that the adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2024 was $132.8 million, compared to $136.8 million in the same time frame of 2023.