Futures Clear Breakeven

Futures for Canada's main stock index edged up on Thursday as hopes of a pause in U.S. rate hikes and passage of a bill on suspending the country's debt ceiling lifted investor sentiment globally.

The TSX stumbled 167.46 points, or 1.1% to conclude trading Wednesday at 19,572.24

June futures on the S&P/TSX index nicked higher 0.1% Thursday morning.

The Canadian dollar climbed 0.52 cents to 73.75 cents U.S.

Among individual stocks, Laurentian Bank of Canada beat quarterly adjusted earnings and raised dividend.

Credit Suisse turned bullish on utility Boralex, while Eight Capital started coverage on AI services platform Coveo Solutions Inc with a "buy" rating.

On the economic scene, S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI was due out for May at 9:30 a.m.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 1.14 points Wednesday to 595.82.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures rose slightly Thursday after the U.S. House passed a debt ceiling bill in a crucial step to avoid a U.S. default, with the measure now moving it to the Senate.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained eight points to 32,987.

Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 9.5 points, or 0.2% to 4,200.

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Futures for the NASDAQ Composite gathered 23.25 points, or 0.2%, to 14,323.75.

The NASDAQ Composite ended May with a 5.8% gain as enthusiasm around AI continued to boost related stocks. Chipmaker Nvidia jumped 36% in May, briefly touching a $1 trillion market cap this week. Alphabet, Meta and Amazon all rose at least 10% during the month.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act passed by a vote of 314-117 with bipartisan support. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he hopes “we can move the bill quickly here in the Senate and bring it to the president’s desk as soon as possible.”

Concern over a possible U.S. debt default lingered on Wall Street throughout May — which concluded Wednesday. Last month was also marked by a dramatic rally in artificial intelligence-related stocks.

A slew of economic data is set for release Thursday, including weekly jobless claims and the purchasing managers’ index.

Nordstrom jumped 7% in premarket trading after its fiscal first-quarter sales beat Wall Street’s expectations. Salesforce shares fell about 6% after the software company bumped up its full-year forecast but reported higher capital expenses than expected.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 regained 0.8% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dipped 0.1%.

Oil prices deducted 28 cents to $67.81 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices gained $2.50 to $1,984.60 U.S. an ounce.