TORONTO -- The Canadian dollar traded higher after Statistics Canada reported record job growth in April, while stocks came under pressure as the U.S. and China failed to reach a deal on trade before a tariff deadline today.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 142.18 points at 16,179.57.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 252.82 points at 25,575.54. The S&P 500 index was down 32.85 points at 2,837.87, while the Nasdaq composite was down 115.99 points at 7,794.60.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.45 cents US compared with an average of 74.17 cents US on Thursday after Statistics Canada reported the economy added 106,500 jobs in April, the biggest one-month gain since the government started keeping comparable data in 1976.
The June crude contract was down five cents at US$61.65 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was up 0.9 of a cent at US$2.60 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was up US$2.80 at US$1,288.00 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 1.25 cents at US$2.76 a pound.
