Canadian stock market inches lower as downbeat job data weighs

Canada's main stock market in Toronto lost ground on Friday after a five-day straight rally as the latest downbeat labour market data weighed on the trading sentiment.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index was down 14.3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,964.36 points, with mixed performances among sectors. And the market will be closed next Monday for the Thanksgiving Day.

The gainers included the mining sector, up 1.96 percent, and the medical sector, jumping 2.83 percent.

But the index was dragged down after Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 7.1 percent in September, although the employment was little changed for the fourth consecutive month.

The employment numbers show that the resource sector is at the epicentre of the downturn, according to a report released by TD Bank on Friday.

"Tough times in the resource sector are a key force shaping our view of how different regions of Canada are likely to fare over the next couple of years," it said.

Energy, down 1.29 percent, was the biggest loser in TSX, with the oil and gas company Encana plunging 3.74 percent to 11.32 Canadian dollars (about 8.75 U.S. dollars).

And the most weighed sector financials lost 0.56 percent when the Autumn Business Outlook Survey, released by the Canadian central bank on Friday, showed that the overall sales and investment outlook improved, owing in part to continued support from U.S. demand.

However, business sentiment remained weak for firms directly and indirectly tied to the resource sector.

The country's biggest lender Royal Bank of Canada declined 0.67 percent to 73.9 Canadian dollars while the insurance company Sun Life Financial Inc. lowered 0.72 percent to 44.34 Canadian dollars per share.

On the currency front, due to the weaker greenback, the Canadian dollar was up to 0.7730 U.S. dollar on Friday, compared with 0.7682 U.S. dollar on Thursday.