Mining & Metals
TSX Closer: Index Gains as Battery Metals Rally, Investors Digest Mixed Labor Data
The Toronto Stock Exchange rose on Friday as gains in energy, financial and base-metals stocks outweighed weakness in telecom shares, while investors assessed mixed Canadian employment data.The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 104.86 points, or 0.3%, to 35,305.31, with mixed sectors.Battery Metals Index led gainers, up 5.35%, with Information and Technology, Energy, Financial, and Base Metals, up 0.59%, 0.10%, 0.94%, and 0.94%, respectively. Telecom led decliners, down 0.65%, while Health Care, down 0.17%, Utilities, down 0.04%, and Industrials, down 0.12%.In commodities, gold traded lower on Friday as treasury yields rose. Goldl for August delivery was last seen down $27.30, or 0.7%, to $4,113.50 per ounce. The price of the metal has hovered above the $4,000 mark for the past two weeks, staying well under its Jan. 29 record high of $5,354.90.Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed lower on Friday as fighting between the U.S. and Iran continues, while some ships continue to move out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, boosting supply. WTI crude oil for August delivery closed down $0.67, or 0.9%, to settle at $71.41, while September Brent oil was last seen down $0.42, or 0.6%, to $75.88.In currencies, the UBS bank said the recent rise in the US dollar against the Canadian dollar has been driven by a widening divergence in interest rate expectations between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada, making next week's BoC meeting a key focus for the currency pair.UBS is bearish on the Canadian dollar in the near term, expecting USD/CAD to stay elevated before easing toward 1.40 early next year.Despite Canadian inflation accelerating to more than 3% annually, UBS said the BoC remains one of the least likely major central banks to tighten policy, as persistent weakness in the Canadian economy continues to weigh on the outlook."We expect the BoC to leave its policy stance unchanged next week," wrote UBS in its note. Canada's central bank is scheduled to release its policy decision on Wednesday.Additionally, Canada's labor market showed mixed signals. Canada's labor market continued to cool in June, with employment a tad higher, thanks to private-sector job gains more than offsetting declines among public-sector workers, said the country's statistical agency in its Labour Force Survey (LFS) Friday.Canada gained 18,000 jobs, or 0.1% month over month, in June, while the unemployment rate edged down to 6.5% from 6.6%, according to Statistics Canada. The job increases were roughly in line with a 10,000 consensus rise provided by MUFG before the release of the LFS.The unemployment rate was expected to stay at 6.6% in the consensus. Private-sector employment increased by 32,000, or 0.2% monthly, which offset a 31,000 decline, or 0.7% month over month, in public-sector jobs, added StatsCan.Sector performance was mixed, led by 15,000 gains in accommodation and food services, while manufacturing fell by 17,000."Manufacturing, where job losses continue to mount, remains a poster child of the uncertainty hanging over the Canadian economy. It is a reminder that the economy continues to operate below capacity, with downside risks concentrated in trade-exposed sectors," wrote TD economist Maria Solovieva.CIBC's Andrew Grantham and Desjardins' Royce Mendes separately noted that the summer job market for youths improved for the second straight month, and the unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds fell to 12.7%, from 13.4% in May and 14.3% in April. Mendes linked this improvement to the reduction in non-permanent residents, with the youth population shrinking in 2026.
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