TSX lower after the open, loonie down

At 11:06 a.m. EDT (1506 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 119.1 points, or 0.88 percent, at 13,477.31.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 187.60 points at 16,187.16, the broader S&P 500 index fell 19.22 points to 1,931.91 and Nasdaq declined 33.92 to 4,699.58. Consensus estimates call for American employers to have created 220,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate dropping to 5.2 per cent.

“I think the market now is confused and scared”, said Marcus Xu, portfolio manager at M.Y. Capital Management Corp. “People are just kind of catching their breath here and waiting to see what tomorrow brings”.

With increased uncertainty from China, the price of oil losing more than 8 per cent on Tuesday and no clear indication if the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates, currency traders are flocking to the United States dollar.

“While a rate cut at the Bank of Canada’s September 9 meeting is a possibility, it seems unlikely”, said William Adams, a senior global economist at PNC Financial Services Group, in a note to clients. Meanwhile, the US unemployment rate also fell to 5.1 per cent, its lowest level since March 2008. The Canadian economy unexpectedly added jobs in August, making it unlikely the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates a third time this year.

On the commodity markets, the October crude contract lost 70 cents to US$46.05 barrel, October natural gas gave back seven cents to US$2.66 per thousand cubic feet and December copper plunged seven cents to USA $2.31 a pound. December gold fell $3.40 to US$1,121.10 an ounce.