Futures for Canada's main stock index were nearly flat on Friday ahead of domestic and U.S. jobs data that could guide expectations for further interest rate hikes in the countries.
The TSX retained 31.1 points by the end of Thursday’s session at 19,577.04.
September futures for the TSX nicked higher 0.1% Friday.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.1 cents to 77.60 cents U.S.
Suncor Energy posted an over fourfold jump in its second-quarter profit, as the oil producer benefited from a rally in commodity prices, and floated plans to divest assets and slim down its portfolio.
TC Energy said it had struck a deal with a Mexican state utility to develop a $4.5-billion natural gas
pipeline.
Canopy Growth reported a quarterly loss, as the cannabis producer incurred an impairment charge of $1.72 billion related to its operations.
TD Securities raised the target price on Bombardier to $68.00 from $60.00
TD Securities raised the target price on Canadian Natural Resources to $92.00 from $91.00
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Trisura Group to $62.00 from $60.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reports the economy shed 31,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate was steady at 4.9%.
A bit later this morning (about 10 a.m. EDT), Western University’s IVEY School of Business chimes in with its Purchasing Managers’ Index for July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange edged higher 4.88 points Thursday to 660.08.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were little changed Friday as investors awaited the July jobs report, looking for further clues about the Federal Reserve’s path of rate hikes and the state of the economy.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 75 points, or 0.2%, early Friday to 32,756.
Futures for the S&P 500 nosed up 4.75 points, or 0.1%, to 4,157.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite were unchanged at 13,327.
The S&P 500 is up a modest 0.5% on the week, attempting to post a three-week winning streak. The blue-chip Dow has dipped 0.4% this week, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite has outperformed, up 2.7% on the week.
Economists expect 258,000 jobs were added in July, down from 372,000 in June, according to Dow Jones. Unemployment is expected to hold steady at 3.6%. The jobs report was released Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 tacked on 0.9% Friday. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng edged up 0.1%
Oil prices gained 14 cents to $88.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices demurred $3.40 to $1,803.00 U.S. an ounce.
