Stocks Flat as Investors Assess Jobs Numbers

Equities in Canada’s largest market opened subdued on Friday as gains in mining shares countered declines in communication stocks, while investors evaluated key Canadian and U.S. employment data to gauge the interest-rate outlook in both economies.The TSX faded 29.4 points to begin Friday at 25,505.09.The Canadian dollar eked up 0.06 cents at 69.95 cents U.S. In corporate news, cloud services provider Converge Technology will be acquired by alternative investment firm H.I.G. Capital in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. Converge shares began Friday’s session with a bang, with a jump of $1.89, or 53.5%, to $5.42. Statistics Canada reported this morning employment increased by 76,000 (+0.4%) in January and the unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%.ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange edged up 0.27 points to 639.75.Eight of the 12 subgroups lost ground in the first hour, weighed most by health-care, down 1.5%, communications, down 1.4%, and real-estate, lower 0.6%. The four gainers were led by energy, soaring 1%, materials, better by 0.6%, and gold, ahead 0.3%. ON WALLSTREET The S&P 500 moved lower on Friday as recent consumer sentiment data fueled concerns around inflation.The Dow Jones Industrials lost 71.86 points to 44,675.77. The much-broader index dumped 12.15 points to 6,071.42The tech-heavy NASDAQ gave back 100.74 points to 19,691.26. Amazon lost 2%, weighing on sentiment. Guidance from the e-commerce giant disappointed investors, as Amazon called for revenue growth of 5% to 9% in the first quarter — its weakest growth on record. The outlook overshadowed top- and bottom-line beats in the fourth quarter.Meanwhile, January’s jobs report released Friday showed 143,000 jobs were added for the month, but traders were concentrating on other parts of the report. The unemployment rate actually fell to 4% from 4.1%, and December’s and November’s jobs figures were revised up significantly. Average hourly earnings for January were also higher than expected, raising inflation fears.Consumer sentiment fell in February to 67.8, according to a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected 71.3.Prices for the 10-year Treasury eased a bit, raising yields to 4.51% from Thursday’s 4.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.Oil prices gained 65 cents to $71.26 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold revived $29.30 an ounce to $2,906 U.S.