Canada's stock index futures slipped on Thursday, as gold prices fell about 1% after the U.S. Federal Reserve disappointed expectations for further stimulus to spur inflation and support the world's largest economy.
The TSX tumbled 135.61 points to finish Wednesday at 16,295.66, ending a small winning streak.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.01 cents Wednesday to 75.86 cents U.S.
September futures snoozed 0.5% Thursday.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 5.44 points Wednesday to 747.35.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures dropped as technology stocks declined, along with plays related to a successful coronavirus vaccine rollout.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 232 points, or 0.8%, early Thursday, to 27,705.
Futures for the S&P 500 slumped 42 points, or 1.2%, at 3,337.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite faltered 221.25 points, or 2%, to 11,033.75.
Investors evaluated for a second day the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook where it indicated interest rates could stay anchored to the zero-bound through 2023 as the central bank tries to spur inflation.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell also pressed lawmakers to move forward with stimulus.
Shares of stocks that would benefit most from a vaccine struggled in pre-market trading amid conflicting messages about the timeline.
President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that the U.S. could distribute a vaccine as early as October, contracting the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who told lawmakers earlier in the day that vaccinations would be in limited quantities this year and not widely distributed for six to nine months.
Carnival Corp and United Airlines both fell 2% in pre-market trading.
Technology stocks, which weighed on the market Wednesday and were the source of the selloff earlier this month, were down in pre-market trading again. Tesla was off by 2%. Netflix fell 1%.
Shares of Snowflake, an IPO which captivated Wall Street on Wednesday as it doubled in its debut, were off by 3% in early trading.
Traders were monitoring the status of stimulus talks after Trump suggested Wednesday he could support a larger package. However, Politico was reporting that Senate Republicans appeared reluctant to do so without more details on a bill.
Wall Street will get the latest look at U.S. weekly jobless claims this hour. Jobless claims are expected to total 875,000, according to economists polled by Dow Jones, down slightly from the prior week.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.7% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index floundered 1.6%.
Oil prices dropped five cents to $40.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell back $14.90 to $1,955.60.
