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North American stock market falls as coronavirus concerns overshadow job gains

TORONTO — North American stock markets snapped a four-day winning streak at the end of the week as concerns about the coronavirus overshadowed strong job gains.
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TORONTO — North American stock markets snapped a four-day winning streak at the end of the week as concerns about the coronavirus overshadowed strong job gains.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 102.00 points at 17,655.49.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 277.26 points at 29,102.51. The S&P 500 index was down 18.07 points at 3,327.71, while the Nasdaq composite was down 51.64 points at 9,520.51.

The Canadian dollar traded for 75.16 cents US, down from an average of 75.24 cents US on Thursday even as Statistics Canada reported that the economy added 34,500 jobs in January, roughly twice the number expected by economists.

The March crude contract was down 63 cents at US$50.32 per barrel and the March natural gas contract down 0.4 of a cent at US$1.86 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was up US$3.40 at US$1,573.40 an ounce and the March copper contract was down four cents at US$2.55 a pound.