- The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 31.08 points, or 0.21 percent, to 15,034.53.

- Of the index's 10 main industry groups, seven ended in negative territory.

- The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 1.1 percent.

- Guyana Gold slid by 7.6 percent, Eldorado Gold shed 7.1 percent, New Gold dropped by 6.3 percent and Oceangold Corp was down 5.9 percent.

- The largest percentage decliner was Sierra Wireless Inc, down 13.6 percent, after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss after the bell on Thursday.

- U.S. gold futures settled down 0.3 percent at

$1,315.70 an ounce. [GOL/]

- Copper prices declined 1.4 percent to $6,750 a tonne. [MET/L]

- The index was posting no new 52-week highs and 50 new lows.

- The Canadian economy lost the most jobs in nine years in January, pulling back after a robust 2017 and solidifying expectations the Bank of Canada will hold interest rates steady next month.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith, editing by G Crosse)