Hello to March

Futures for Canada's main stock index gained on Friday tracking a rise in crude oil and gold prices, while gains were capped as investors took a breather after Thursday's rally on upbeat domestic quarterly results.

The TSX Composite jumped 119.84 points Thursday at 21,363.61.

March futures were up 0.4% Friday.

The Canadian dollar dipped 0.05 cents to 73.64 cents U.S.

Earnings from Canadian Natural Resources, TD Bank Group and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which beat quarterly profit estimates also added to the rally on the TSX in the previous session.

Meanwhile, Canadian Western Bank reported its first-quarter profit above analysts' estimates.

Looking forward, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI is due in this country before the opening bell (about 9:30 a.m. EST)


ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 5.52 points, or 1%, Thursday to 560.11.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures edged lower Friday after the market wrapped up its fourth winning month and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite reached its first closing record since November 2021.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faltered 23 points, or 0.1%, to 39.020.

Futures for the S&P 500 leaned higher one point to 5,104.75.

Futures for the NASDAQ advanced 21.5 points, or 0.1%, to 18,104.25.

Major averages ended another positive month as the rally driven by an artificial intelligence boom and hopes for rate cuts chugged along. The tech-heavy NASDAQ was the best performer in February with a 6.1% gain. The S&P 500 climbed 5.2%, while the Dow added 2.2% for its first four-month winning streak since May 2021.

On a weekly basis, the S&P 500 is tracking for a roughly 0.2% advance, while the Nasdaq is up 0.6%. The 30-stock Dow is the laggard, down nearly 0.4%.

Troubled regional bank New York Community Bancorp shed a whopping 29% in premarket trading after the lender announced a leadership change and disclosed issues with its internal controls. The bank is already down more than 50% in 2024.

Bitcoin pulled off a fierce rally in February, up nearly 45% to top $62,000. It’s the token’s best month since December 2020 as well as its sixth-straight monthly gain.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 hiked 1.9% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index took on 0.5%.

Oil prices improved $1.30 to $79.56 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices shone brighter by $5.20 to $2,058.90 U.S. an ounce.


Related Stories