Traders look ahead to release of Canadian, American August jobs data

TORONTO – The pace of trading on the Toronto stock exchange Friday will be set by the latest reading on American employment and the effect that data could have on whether the Federal Reserve starts to wind up a key stimulus program.

Canadian jobs data for August also comes out Friday morning and the dollar was ahead 0.56 of a cent to 95.74 cents US.

The consensus calls for the Canadian economy to have created about 20,000 jobs last month.

U.S. futures were higher ahead of the release of the non-farm payrolls report.

The Dow Jones industrial futures climbed 16 points to 14,933, the Nasdaq futures rose 8.2 points to 3,136.2 and the S&P 500 futures were ahead three points to 1,656.

The consensus calls for the American economy to have cranked out about 175,000 jobs in August, although recent strong data on declining jobless insurance claims has led some to expect the gains could have been as high as 200,000.

“This would mark a slight improvement on the 192,000 average monthly advance so far in 2013, and represent a decent bounce from July’s disappointing 162,000 gain,” said BMO Capital Markets senior economist Sal Guatieri.

“Most importantly, it would confirm steady progress in labour markets, tipping the odds toward a (Federal Reserve) tapering announcement on Sept. 18. By contrast, a sub-150,000 print could indicate that job growth is slowing, delaying tapering.”

The U.S. Federal Reserve has indicated it could start winding up its US$85 billion of bond purchases as early as this month if the economy shows sufficient strength. The prospect of the Fed tapering those asset purchases has unnerved some investors as the stimulus has kept rates low and channelled lots of money into equity markets around the globe.

Commodity prices were mixed with the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange ahead 67 cents to US$109.04 a barrel.

December copper rose four cents to US$3.28 a pound while December gold bullion dipped $1 to US$1,372 an ounce.

Meanwhile, jitters remained over Syria’s civil war and whether the U.S. would launch a punitive strike against President Bashar Assad’s regime for a chemical attack against civilians in suburban Damascus last month. But at the G-20 summit of world leaders in Russia this week, President Barack Obama failed to garner much support for military intervention.

A congressional vote on such a strike could take place as early as next week.

On the corporate front, Com Dev International Ltd. (TSX:CDV), a supplier of subsystems and other components to major satellite contractors says net income attributable to shareholders in the latest quarter was $5.1 million or seven cents per share. That was up from $4 million or five cents per share in the same year-earlier period even as revenue slipped to $54.2 million from $54.5 million.

Calfrac Well Services Ltd. (TSX:CFW) is spending US$147 million to buy Mission Well Services LLC, a privately held hydraulic fracturing and coiled tubing services provider focused in Texas.

European bourses were mixed with London’s FTSE 100 index off 0.06 per cent and Frankfurt’s DAX down 0.09 per cent, while the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.05 per cent.

Earlier, in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell on profit-taking after four sessions of gains. The benchmark index closed down 1.5 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose slightly.

Stocks in Hong Kong and mainland China have posted gains in recent days after Chinese manufacturing data showed the slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy is stabilizing.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1 per cent, the Shanghai index advanced 0.8 per cent and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.5 per cent.