STRONG JOBS REPORT FAILS TO BOOST TSX

The Toronto stock market closed lower Friday as traders weighed data showing another month of strong job creation in Canada, while another report showed the Chinese economy slowing more than thought.

The S&P/TSX composite index edged 41.50 points lower to 11,694.67 amid sliding resource stocks. The resource-heavy TSX lost ground for a second straight week, losing 1.5%.

The Canadian dollar was US0.08¢ higher at US99.91¢ after Statistics Canada reported the economy cranked out 58,200 jobs, much higher than the 10,000 economists had expected. The strong showing followed job growth in March of 82,300.

Still, the jobless rate edged up 0.1 of a percentage point to 7.3% as more people were looking for work.

The strong employment showing suggested the Bank of Canada may move sooner than expected to hike interest rates. The currency had earlier traded lower as traders shunned risk and sought the safety of U.S. treasuries.

The TSX Venture Exchange lost 8.98 points to 1,346.33.

New York markets were weak amid a shock announcement from Jpmorgan

Chase & Co. that it lost Us$2-billion in the past six weeks in a trading portfolio designed to hedge against risks the company takes with its own money. The company’s stock plunged 8.8%.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave back 34.44 points to 12,820.60.

The Nasdaq composite index inched up 0.18 of a point to 2,933.82 and the S&P 500 index was 4.60 points lower to 1,353.39.

TSX commodity stocks lost ground following the release of data showing growth in the Chinese economy slowing faster than believed. Data released Friday showed that industrial production rose 9.3% from a year earlier in April, slowing from a nearly 12% increase in March.

Another report showed inflation also eased, to 3.4% in April from 3.6% the month before, giving the government greater leeway to ease policy to boost growth.

The energy sector lost 1% while commodities backed off following the release of the Chinese data with the June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down US95¢ to US$96.13 a barrel.

Suncor Energy Inc. shed 55¢ to $28.75. Metal prices also retreated with July copper off US4¢ to US$3.65 a pound. China is the world’s biggest consumer of the metal, which is viewed as an economic barometer as it is used in many different industries. The base metals sector was down a shade over 1% as Teck Resources Ltd. gave back 43¢ to $32.99 while Ivanhoe

Mines Ltd. declined 51¢ to $9.48.