Canada stocks drop after jobs reports..

Canadian stocks briefly benefited from expectations that the jobs reports are unlikely to change the accommodative monetary policy on both sides of the border.

But Wall Street later succombed to additional selling pressure after a foreclosure ruling in Massachusetts pressured banks.

Among the most active movers in Toronto, Canadian Natural Resources droped 5% after a fire in its Horizon oilsands mine.

Meanwhile, gold stocks rose even as gold futures fell for the fourth session in a row. The February contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $2.80 to US$1,368.90 an ounce.

Canada stocks look to break five-session losing streak..

Canadian justice markets are picking up on global hopefulness that is lifting commodity prices through two catalysts,” said Derek Holt, vice president at Capital Markets Research. “One is Japan’s announced intention to buy European debt. The other is better Chinese loan growth figures that suggest resilient growth in the face of policy tightening.”

Resource shares climbed as prices for gold tapped a high near $1,390 an ounce and oil climbed past $90 per barrel in New York.

Shares of Eldorado Gold Corp. were up 4.1%, Yamana Gold Inc. added 2.4% and Talisman Energy Inc rose 2.5%.

Data showing a fall in housing starts in December, however, weighed on some property stocks. Brookfield Properties Corp. traded up 0.2%, while Riocan Real Estate Investment Trust was nearly unchanged.

In currencies trading, the U.S. dollar traded slightly weaker against the Canadian dollar, buying 99.20 Canadian cents, down from 99.26 cents late Monday in North American trading