Canada's main stock index fell on Friday, as falling gold prices dragged down materials stocks and a strong rebound in US job growth in June drove investors to pare bets of an aggressive interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
At 10:09 a.m. ET (14:09 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 85.37 points, or 0.51pc, at 16,503.48.
Materials stocks, which include precious and base metals miners, slumped 2.7pc, the most among the major 11 sectors. Gold prices fell nearly 2pc, hitting stocks such as Kirkland Lake Gold and Iamgold Corp.
Globally, risk assets have rallied in the first half of 2019 on hopes of major central banks turning more dovish.
However, better-than-expected US job additions in June showed the economy was on a strong footing, leading investors to scale back bets of a 50-basis point rate cut in the Fed's July meeting.
Meanwhile, the Canadian economy shed a net 2,200 jobs in June after two months of gains, but wages jumped by the most in more than a year - a sign of strength analysts said ruled out the chances of the Bank of Canada cutting interest rates next week.
The Canadian dollar weakened on the news.
Both reports tempered expectations of looser monetary policy, which has supported equity markets in the recent months.
The financials sector, which tends to benefit from a rising rate environment, gained slightly.
The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Gran Tierra Energy Inc and Kelt Exploration Ltd which gained 3.1pc and 1.8pc, respectively.
NovaGold Resources Inc fell 4.8pc, the most on the TSX, while the second-biggest decliner was Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd, down 4.6pc.
The most heavily traded shares by volume were Barrick Gold Corp, B2Gold Corp and Encana Corp.
On the TSX, 68 issues were higher, while 162 issues declined for a 2.38-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 25.25 million shares traded.
The TSX posted two new 52-week highs and no new lows.
Across all Canadian issues, there were 12 new 52-week highs and eight new lows, with total volume of 43.38 million shares.
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