Toronto stocks closed lower on Friday as technology issues retreated in the aftermath of an unsettling mid-quarter update from computer chip maker Intel Corp.
The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index fell 44.44 points, or 0.53 percent, to 8,344.42. For the week, the index eked out a wafer-thin 0.12 percent gain.
Some experts, who say the market would have fallen much further if not for data showing an improvement in US jobs growth, now expect stocks to move higher when investors return from the Labour Day holiday weekend.
"We're down quite a bit, and tech stocks are off significantly, but it could really have been worse if the employment numbers wee not solid," said Elvis Picardo, chief market strategist at Global Securities Ltd.
"We had a pretty substantial sell-off over the last six months, so we're getting to the point where it really looks like some of these stocks may be pretty good bargains."
The information technology sector's 2.8 percent decline dealt the index a severe blow, while health-care stocks eased 1.4 percent. Nine of the TSX's 10 subindexes finished lower.
Technology stocks were expected to crumble when Intel said late on Thursday that demand for its computer microprocessors and communications chips had weakened beyond expectations.
The update triggered fears of a slowdown in the global economy and knocked technology shares to their lowest level since mid-August.
Nortel Networks Corp, down 6 percent on the week, fell 23 Canadian cents, or 4.6 percent, to C$4.74, while ATI Technologies fell C$1.14, or 5.9 percent, to C$18.06.
The tech fallout was cushioned slightly as the US Labor Department said non-farm payrolls rose 144,000 in August and almost matched analysts' forecasts of 150,000. Even though the tech selloff was largely expected, some experts said the impact looked more severe as thin market conditions tend to exaggerate movement.
Market momentum was negative as 611 issues declined and 587 advanced on a light volume that saw 151 million shares valued at C$2 billion change hands.
The blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 index finished down 2.99 points, or 0.64 percent, at 464.12.
The disappointing news from Intel also knocked US stocks lower, while the thin crop of investors that did not escape early for the weekend focused on next week's testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.08 points, or 0.29 percent, to 10,260.20, while the Nasdaq composite index dropped 28.95 points, or 1.55 percent, to 1,844.48.
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