TSX, loonie down as key commodity prices fall

TORONTO -- The Toronto stock market was poised to finish the week on a solidly negative note as oil and other commodity prices turned lower.

At mid-afternoon, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 65.99 points at 13,428.37 on the heels of a small drop Thursday.

The commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar was also lower, down 0.19 of a U.S. cent at 76.81 cents US.

In commodities, the May contract for benchmark North American crude fell $1.23 to US$37.11 a barrel, while May natural gas was unchanged at US$1.96 per mmBtu. June gold fell $13.80 to US$1,221.80 a troy ounce, while May copper shed two cents to US$2.17 a pound.

South of the border, the situation was a little rosier, with the main New York indexes all in positive territory after the U.S. government reported that private employers added 215,000 jobs in March, slightly more than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 77.90 points at 17,762.99, while the broader S&P 500 added 8.17 points to 2,067.91 and the Nasdaq composite rose 30.15 points to 4,899.99.

Kate Warne, investment strategist for Edward Jones, said the jobs report showed that the U.S. economy is staying on track and growth remains steady in spite of all the stock market turmoil this year.

"That means more spending on everything from housing to McDonald's," Warne told The Associated Press. "It's one more confirmation that the worries from earlier in the year really weren't warranted."

In other economic news, U.S. manufacturing expanded in March, ending a five-month streak of declining factory activity. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 51.8 last month from 49.5 in February. Any reading above 50 signals growth.

In corporate news, smartphone maker BlackBerry (TSX:BB) reported disappointing quarterly results, with sales that fell far short of estimates. Its stock was down 79 cents or 7.59 per cent at $9.74.

Overseas trading also saw a dismal end to the week.

In Europe, Germany's DAX lost 1.7 per cent, France's CAC-40 tumbled 1.43 per cent and in Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.47 per cent.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 sank 3.6 per cent as Japan's big exports continue to suffer from a double whammy of slowing Chinese economic growth and a rising yen.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.1 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 1.34 per cent and China's main Shanghai composite slid 0.19 per cent.