After moving moderately lower over the two previous sessions, Canadian stocks are showing a lack of direction during trading on Friday.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index has been bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line and is currently up just 6.17 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 19,948.87.
The choppy trading on Bay Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next Wednesday.
While the Fed is widely expected to pause its recent interest rate increases, traders will be looking for additional clarity about the outlook for rates.
Key U.S. inflation reports are also likely to be in the spotlight next week, as the data could impact whether the Fed resumes its rate hikes next month.
On the Canadian economic front, Statistics Canada released a report showing overall employment was little changed in May, as employment fell by 77,000 for youth aged 15 to 24 but increased by 63,000 among people aged 25 to 54.
Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 5.2 percent, marking the first increase since August 2022.
Consumer staple stocks are seeing notable weakness on the day, dragging the S&P/TSX Capped Consumer Staples Index down by 1.2 percent.
Healthcare and gold stocks have also moved to downside, with the weakness in the gold sector coming despite a modest increase by the price of the precious metal.
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