Toronto stocks seen undercut by U.S. jobs report
April 4th, 2008 | by admin |TORONTO, April 4 (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange’smain index was set to drop on Friday, and snap a four-day winstreak, as news that U.S. employers slashed 80,000 jobs lastmonth cast a dark shadow over global equities.
Although economists expected U.S. job losses in March, thenumber surpassed expectations and accounts for the biggestmonthly decline in five years. For details, see: [nN03475545]
It means that the United States, Canada’s biggest tradingpartner, is headed into a downturn, and that the profits ofexport-oriented TSX firms will take a hit.
“It will confirm the worries and the negative mood in themarket,” said Beste Alpargun, vice-president of equity researchat Citadel Securities in Halifax.
Meanwhile, Canada’s employment growth eased in March afterbig gains in the previous two months. The country added 14,600jobs, boosting its unemployment rate to 6.0 percent. Fordetails, see: [nN04340691]
The Canadian benchmark has managed to outperform major U.S.stock indexes and averages this year due in large part to thecountry’s key resource sector, which has helped shield theeconomy from a slowdown in the United States.
But European equities and U.S. stock futures tumbled afterthe U.S. payroll report, a menacing sign for the TSX.
Elsewhere, Teck Cominco (TCKb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) confirmed it had agreedto the terms of a contract for zinc treatment charges withmajor smelter Korea Zinc Co (010130.KS: Quote, Profile, Research). Although the Canadianzinc-and-copper miner did not provide details of the terms, thecontract sets the global tone for this year’s treatment-chargecontracts. See: [nSP124850]
Corel Corp (CRE.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), the consumer software maker that isthe target of a buyout by its majority shareholder, will alsobe on radars after it reported a modest first-quarter loss.See: [nN03478122]
