TSX drops as high unemployment fuels recovery fears

Canada's main stock index slipped on Thursday as data showed payroll jobs fell for a sixth straight month in August, while a stimulus plan from the US Federal Reserve disappointed investors.

Canada lost 205,400 jobs in August, as hiring tumbled in the construction, and trade, transportation and utilities sectors, a report from payroll services provider ADP showed.

At 9:54 a.m. ET (13:54 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 109.58 points, or 0.67%, at 16,186.08.

The energy sector dropped 2.0% as US crude prices were down 0.9% a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.6%.

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.9% as gold futures fell 1.4% to $1,933.8 an ounce.

On the TSX, 46 issues rose, while 172 issues fell in a 3.74-to-1 ratio favoring losers, with 25.60 million shares traded.

The largest percentage gainer on the TSX was Badger Daylighting, which jumped 3.6%, followed by Bausch Health Cos that gained 2.6% after Bank of America raised its rating to "neutral" from "underperform".

Vermilion Energy fell 5.1%, the most on the TSX, while the second biggest decliner was Teranga Gold Corp , down 4.4%.

The most heavily traded shares by volume were Zenabis Global Inc, Just Energy Group and Nuvei Corp .

The TSX posted one new 52-week high and no new low.

Across all Canadian issues there were 11 new 52-week highs and six new lows, with total volume of 63.35 million shares.