(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index opened lower on Friday and was set for its first monthly loss since April, as concerns around the economic impact of rising coronavirus infections drowned optimism over domestic stimulus measures.
* Canada's government on Thursday proposed boosting a weekly payout for the jobless that would replace emergency COVID-19 income support that ends this weekend.
* At 9:42 a.m. ET (1342 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 12.39 points, or 0.08%, at 15,899.87.
* The energy sector dropped 0.6% as U.S. crude prices were down 0.9% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.6%. [O/R]
* The financials sector slipped 0.3%, while the industrials sector remained unchanged.
* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.9% as gold futures fell 0.6% to $1,856.3 an ounce.
* On the TSX, 91 issues rose, while 122 fell in a 1.34-to-1 ratio favoring the decliners, with 11.74 million shares traded.
* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Brookfield Renewable Partners (TO:BEP_u), which jumped 2.7% after Scotiabank raised its price target on the stock, and BlackBerry Ltd, which rose 2.4%.
* First Majestic Silver Corp fell 5.3%, the most on the TSX as it weighs options for its Mexican tax dispute case, while the second biggest decliner was Osisko Mining Inc, down 2.6%.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Just Energy Group, Bombardier Inc and Kinross Gold Corp.
* There were no new 52-week high or low on the TSX.
* Across all Canadian issues, there were two new 52-week highs and four new lows, with 26.82 million shares traded.
