Toronto stocks extended their losing streak to three days on Friday on weaker-than-expected Canadian and US jobs data that raised concerns about the economic recovery in both countries.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 91.20 points, or 1.10 percent, at 8,176.68 on volume of 173 million shares worth C$2.4 billion.
The market shed more than 100 points during the session, touching its lowest point since late May. The index lost 3.3 percent on the week.
Weak labour reports on both sides of the border triggered the decline, along with other major indexes, as investors recoiled from the dismal data.
"Everyone's nervous. Everyone hoped that the July report would look better than June but instead their hopes were dashed," said strategist Kate Warne at Edward Jones in St. Louis, Mo.
"Today reinforced all the fears that we have seen over the past two months, leading people to worry that the economy really is slowing down."
The Canadian economy generated 8,700 jobs in July, below forecasts for 25,000 new jobs. The jobless rate fell to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent, but that reflected the fact that more people stopped looking for work.
The much bigger US labour market created 32,000 jobs last month, far below forecasts for a gain of 228,000. It was the second month in a row that the figures missed forecasts.
Persistently high crude prices, which hobbled the market on Thursday, added to the negative sentiment.
Oil hit fresh highs on Friday as a renewed threat to Russian oil giant YUKOS raised fears about global supplies.
All of the TSX's 10 subgroups finished down, led by a 3.7 percent decline in the tech sector. A number of sectors faced declines of more than 1 percent including energy, industrials, telecoms and health-care.
"Today's jobs numbers were the catalyst, but the reality of it is the market has been technically in a very weak position for some time," said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada. He said summer holiday-thinned volumes had added to the volatility.
Graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies led the retreat on techs, falling C$1.99, or 9.48 percent, to C$19.00 after its main competitor delivered worse than expected results. Sierra Wireless fell C$2.42, or 6.37 percent, to C$35.58. Nortel Networks was down 6 Canadian cents, or 1.26 percent, at C$4.71.
The sour US jobs report pushed the greenback lower. That helped support bullion prices, and gold-mining stocks were the lone bright spot on the Toronto index on Friday.
The gold subgroup rose 2.74 percent with Placer Dome up 93 Canadian cents, or 4.55 percent, at C$21.35. Glamis Gold gained 60 Canadian cents, or 3.03 percent, to C$20.38.
Overall market momentum was negative as 760 issues declined and 493 advanced.
The blue-chip S&P/TSX index fell 5.21 points, or 1.14 percent, to 453.67.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 147.70 points, or 1.48 percent, at 9,815.33. The Nasdaq fell 44.74 points, or 2.46 percent, to 1,776.89.
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