Canada's main stock index futures fell on Thursday, mirroring global equity markets, as a surge in new coronavirus cases in China stoked panic amongst investors.
The TSX Composite Index added 55.74 points to finish Wednesday’s session at 17,832.85
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.02 cents early Thursday at 75.45 cents U.S.
March futures slouched 0.6% early Thursday.
Manulife Financial Corp missed estimates as earnings from Canada fell 5.6%, while Sun Life Financial beat expectations despite only posting 2% increase in profit from its Asian business, its traditional growth driver.
Caltex Australia Ltd said Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc has raised its buyout offer to A$8.80 billion ($5.93 billion), in a final attempt to sway the oil refiner and convenience store firm after interest from Britain's EG Group.
Canadian Tire Corp beat quarterly profit estimates on Thursday, buoyed by strength in the diversified retailer's credit card business and strong demand at its retail stores.
CIBC raised the target price on Acadian Timber to $18.00 from $17.00
RBC raised the target price on Hydro One to $30.00 from $26.00
RBC raised the rating on Western Forest Products to sector perform from underperform
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 1.39 points Wednesday to 571.73.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday as a jump in coronavirus cases fuels worries over the virus’ impact on economic activity.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials doffed 170 points, or 0.6%, early Thursday to 29,353.
Futures for the S&P 500 dropped 19.5 points, or 0.6%, at 3,361.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite slid 72 points, on 0.8%, to 9,553.75.
Cisco Systems was the worst-performing Dow stock, sliding nearly 5% in the pre-market. Nike, Apple and Microsoft all fell at least 1%.
In corporate news, Cisco fell after the company reported another decline in overall revenue. In the fourth quarter, Cisco’s revenue dropped by 4% on a year-over-year basis. That decline overshadowed a better-than-expected profit.
PepsiCo, Alibaba and Applied Materials all reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations. PepsiCo and Applied Materials rose slightly in the pre-market, but Alibaba’s stock dropped more than 1%.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims and U.S. inflation data are set for release at 8:30 a.m. Federal Reserve speeches by Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan and New York Fed President John Williams on the economic outlook and monetary policy will also be of interest to investors.
China said it confirmed 15,152 new cases and 254 additional deaths. Those figures include the ones reported earlier by Hubei province under its new diagnosis methodology. That brings the country’s total death toll to 1,367 as the number of people infected jumped to nearly 60,000, according to the Chinese government.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 leaned lower 0.1%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slid 0.3%,
Oil prices gained six cents to $51.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $4.20 to $1,575.80 U.S. an ounce.
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