Aug 2 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit its lowest in over three weeks after a weak jobs reading in the United States added to recession fears, while higher gold prices lifted mining stocks.
At 9:52 a.m. ET (13:52 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE), was down 325.15 points, or 1.43%, at 22,398.06, after it logged its worst day since February on Thursday.
The index was set to log its worst week since September 2023.
Data showed that U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in July, while the unemployment rate increased, heightening fears of a deteriorating labor market and a potential recession.
"(The data) is obviously signaling a slowdown in the US economy and, unfortunately, perhaps a recession. At least that's how the markets are taking it," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor of the Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth.
Traders are now betting the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a big half percentage point in September following the data.
"I don't think it's the best idea. We want them to cut rates based on soft landing, not a hard landing. The market is fearing (this) over the past few days, so the big sell-off", Small added.
In the Canada market, technology shares (.SPTTTK), were the worst hit, with a 3.7% loss, tracking declines in the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC), after downbeat quarterly reports from Intel (INTC.O), and Amazon.com (AMZN.O).
Healthcare stocks (.GSPTTHC), followed with a 3.7% decline, pulled down by a 9.2% decline in Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO), after brokerages cut their PTs on the stock. It sank to the bottom of the TSX.
The index saw broader declines with the exception of materials (.GSPTTMT), as they tracked the rise in gold prices, and utilities (.GSPTTUT).
The yield on the two-year Canadian government bond fell to its lowest since August 2022, and is set to log its sixth session of declines.
Meanwhile in corporate news, Magna International (MG.TO), fell 3.6% after the auto parts supplier missed analysts' estimates for second-quarter results.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore
