Futures for Canada's main stock index were muted on Friday, as investors awaited a crucial monthly U.S. jobs report that could provide indications for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook, a day after hawkish remarks from some Fed officials.
The TSX Composite dished off 60.67 points to finish off a volatile Thursday at 22,051.79.
June futures slid 0.1% Friday.
The Canadian dollar docked 0.01 cents to 73.75 cents U.S.
Laurentian Bank said on Thursday it had agreed to sell the assets under administration of its retail full-service investment broker division.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said the economy shed 2,200 jobs in March. The unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.1% in March.
Later on this morning, the IVEY PMI will be handed down for March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stepped back six points, or 1%, to close Thursday at 578.88.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly Friday morning following the index’s worst session in over a year. Investors also awaited key labor data.
Futures for the 30-stock index leaped 107 points, or 0.3%, to 39,023.
Futures for the S&P 500 hiked 20 points, or 0.4%, to 5,217.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite took on 83.25 points, or 0.5%, to 18,160.
The Dow tumbled about 530 points, or 1.4%, marking its biggest daily drop since March 2023 and its fourth consecutive losing session.
The S&P 500 hurtled lower 1.2%, and NASDAQ tumbled 1.4%. The three major averages swung into the red in the afternoon as crude oil jumped and Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari questioned if interest rates should come down amid sticky inflation.
The Dow has led the three major indexes down this week, pacing for a loss of 3% and its worst weekly performance since March 2023. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ have each slid around 2% through Thursday’s close.
Americans learned this morning that job growth totaled 303,000 in March, better than expected, with the jobless rate at 3.8%,
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng returned from holiday to drop 1.18 points.
Oil prices gained 13 cents to $86.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $3.60 to $2,312.10 U.S. an ounce.
