Futures Down Slightly to Conclude Week, May

Futures for Canada's main stock index slipped on Friday as investors were cautious ahead of crucial U.S. inflation data, which could reset bets on interest rate cuts, and Canada's GDP figures.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved upward 173.73 points by Thursday’s end to 22,071.71.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.26 cents to 73.34 cents U.S.

June futures were down 0.1% Friday.

In corporate news, Laurentian Bank of Canada booked severance charges of $2.1 million in the second quarter in relation to its organizational changes.

Economically speaking, Statistics Canada says March GDP data is out today, showing a figure essentially unchanged as both goods-producing and services-producing industries showed little movement in March. GDP increased 0.4%, however, in the first quarter, after posting no change in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The Bank of Canada is expected to initiate interest rate cuts in its June 5 monetary policy meeting, with a 64% probability, while markets are pricing in 35 bps cuts from the Fed this year, with a 49% chance of a rate cut in September.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.94 points, or 1%, Thursday to 614.96.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stock futures ticked lower Friday as investors reviewed a flurry of corporate earnings ahead of a key inflation report. Wall Street was also headed for a losing week after what has been a stellar month for stocks.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials shed 49 points, or 0.1%, to 38,182.

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Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 9.75 points, or 0.2%, at 5,243.25.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite sank 57.5 points, or 0.3%, to 18,549.

Traders digested the latest company earnings results Friday. Dell Technologies tumbled 16% even after its first-quarter results beat expectations. Cloud security stock Zscaler surged 15%, while developer data platform MongoDB plunged almost 24%. Apparel retailer Gap surged more than 22%, while department store chain Nordstrom slid more than 2%.

The April personal consumption expenditure data is due out Friday morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a 2.7% year-over-year increase for core PCE, down slightly from the 2.8% gain in the previous read.

Wall Street is coming off a losing session and is on track to end the holiday-shortened trading week in the red. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite were each on pace to end five-week winning streaks, while the Dow was headed for a second straight week of losses, as rising Treasury yields weighed on investor sentiment.

Despite that, stocks are still on pace to close out a strong month, with each of the major benchmarks set to register a sixth positive month in seven. The Dow is up 0.8% this month, while the S&P 500 is higher by 4%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has gained nearly 7%, which would mark its best month going back to November.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.1%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.8%.

Oil prices dropped nine cents to $77.82 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices fell $1.70 to $2,364.80 U.S. an ounce.