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(Reuters)
TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index fell on Thursday morning as commodity prices faltered as U.S. data showed more job losses than expected in June, adding to concerns about the pace of economic recovery.
At midmorning the TSX index was off early lows but still followed the downtrend of world markets after U.S. data showed employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent.
That helped to put pressure on oil prices, which fell below $67 a barrel.
The big energy sector, down 2.6 percent, led the TSX lower, with Petro-Canada falling 4.8 percent to C$42.75, while Suncor Energy was down 4.7 percent at C$33.72. Imperial Oil dropped 3.6 percent to C$43.50.
"The employment numbers are horrible in the U.S. It still shows there is significant job losses...," said Paul Gardner partner and portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management.
"The real feeling is the economy is slowing down less, but it's still slowing and there is no growth."
At 10:54 a.m. the S&P/TSX composite index was down 44.67 points, 0.43 percent, at 10,330.24, with seven of its 10 main lower.
Cushioning the fall was the index's mining-heavy materials sector, which was up 1.6 percent even though gold and base-metal prices were lower. Goldcorp was up 2.3 percent at C$41.36, and fertilizer producer Potash Corp of Saskatchewan climbed 2 percent to C$110.71.
On Wednesday, Canadian markets were closed for Canada Day.
($1=$1.16 Canadian)
(Reporting by Nina Lex; editing by Peter Galloway)
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