Equities in Canada's largest centre were set to open higher on Friday following the monthly jobs data, but were envisioning a weekly fall on concerns over rapid policy tightening by global central banks and the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The TSX Composite Index picked up 46.29 points to adjourn Thursday at 21,834.89.
June futures flourished 0.4% Friday.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.1 cents to 79.44 cents U.S.
The Globe and Mail reported Shopify Inc has introduced changes to its employees' compensation packages, giving them more flexibility between cash and stock components.
National Bank of Canada initiates coverage on Copperleaf Technologies with an outperform rating and a price target of $20.00.
CIBC cut the rating on Diversified Royalty to neutral from outperform.
CIBC cut the target price on Victoria Gold to $21.00 from $23.00
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported the economy 73,000 jobs in March. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 5.3%, the lowest rate on record since comparable data became available in 1976.
Experts had called for the addition of 80,000 jobs last month after posting a massive addition of 336,600 jobs in February.
In the federal budget, the Liberals put red-hot real estate markets squarely in their sights on Thursday, laying out a budget geared at boosting housing affordability amid soaring inflation, while promising modest new spending to encourage medium-term growth.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 5.45 points Thursday to 886.33.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures rose slightly on Friday, but the market headed for a losing week as investors braced for tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 119 points, or 0.4%, to 34,609.
Futures for the S&P 500 added 11 points, or 0.2%, to 4,507.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index jumped 26.5 points, or 0.2%, to 14,562.50.
Despite a mild rebound Thursday and Friday’s early gains, the major averages were headed for weekly declines. The S&P 500 listed lower 1%, and the NASDAQ was down 2.6%, for the week though Thursday’s close. The Dow was down 0.7% week to date.
Those losses would mark the first weekly losses for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ in four weeks. Meanwhile, the Dow is headed for back-to-back weekly declines.
Investors are also looking ahead to earnings season, which will kick off next week with reports from five big banks. JPMorgan will report before the bell on Wednesday. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo will report before markets open on Thursday.
On the economic front, the wholesale inventories report will be released 10 a.m. Friday.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Japan cleared breakeven 0.4% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng –gathered 0.3%.
Oil prices acquired 98 cents to $97.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices $1.60 to $1,939.40 U.S.
