Investing.com — Canada’s main stock index, the S&P/TSX Composite, closed 0.26% lower at 21,740 points, tracking Wall Street lower as optimism driven by commentary from Fed Chair Powell faded, and a mixed U.S. jobs report pressured sentiment.
Market sentiment turned uncertain after a mixed U.S. nonfarm payrolls report that showed more jobs added in February, but an uptick in the employment rate and the January reading revised sharply lower.
The Canadian economy market meanwhile added a net 40,700 jobs in February, smashing past expectations for a net gain of 20,000 jobs. However, the jobless rate ticked up to 5.8%, as per data from Statistics Canada.
A dip in tech stocks and chipmakers also dented sentiment, after NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) slid from record highs following speculation of a stock split, and Marvell Inc sliding after first-quarter guidance fell short of analyst estimates.
The commodity heavy Canadian index meanwhile gained support from continued strength in gold prices, and a new record high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the TSX today were Algonquin Power (TSX:AQN) & Utilities Corp (TSX:AQN), which rose 4.98% or 0.41 points to trade at 8.64 at the close after the company reported a profit in its latest quarter compared with a loss the year prior, although revenues were 11% lower year over year.
Tilray (TSX:TLRY) Inc (TSX:TLRY) added 4.55% or 0.10 points to end at 2.30 and Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLDP) Inc (TSX:BLDP) was up 3.22% or 0.14 points to 4.49 in late trade.
Biggest losers included NexGen Energy (TSX:NXE) Ltd. (TSX:NXE), which lost 8.67% or 0.94 points to trade at 9.90 in late after missing quarterly earnings expectations, with a per loss share of $0.06 versus an expected loss of $0.03. Revenue remained stagnant year over year.
Cameco Corp (TSX:CCO) (TSX:CCO) declined 6.20% or 3.68 points to end at 55.64 and Denison Mines (NYSE:DNN) Corp (TSX:DML) shed 5.70% or 0.15 points to 2.48.
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