Futures Eke Higher Ahead of U.S. Jobs Numbers

Futures for Canada's main stock index inched up on Friday, lifted by positive corporate updates, as investors await a key jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department later in the day to gauge the direction of global interest rates.

The TSX Composite recovered 94.67 points to close Thursday at 21,823.22.

June futures inched ahead 0.2% Friday.

The Canadian dollar edged up one cent to 73.18 cents U.S.

In company news, pipeline operator TC Energy beat first-quarter profit estimates, helped by robust demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Magna International missed analysts' estimates for first-quarter profit and cut its full-year overall sales forecast on Friday, as the auto parts supplier navigates headwinds from supply chain snags.

Meanwhile, Greater Toronto area home sales fell in April for a third straight month and prices crept up, as over two-decade high interest rates kept the lid on housing market recovery in Canada's main metropolitan region.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange remained lower 3.53 points to close Thursday at 580.42.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures rose sharply Friday as investors prepared themselves for the upcoming April jobs report, due Friday morning.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials spiked 298 points, or 0.8%, to 38,680.

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Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 18.75 points, or 0.4%, to 5,110.25.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite moved forward 112.25 points, or 0.6%, to 17,762.

In extended trading, Apple advanced more than 6% after it announced a $110-billion share repurchase and a top -and bottom-line beat. Biotech Amgen surged 14% after posting better-than-expected earnings and revenue numbers, while Cloudflare lost 14% after reporting weak guidance on revenue for the full year.

The three major U.S. stock indexes ended Thursday higher. The S&P 500 popped 0.91%, while the Dow gained 0.85%. The NASDAQ Composite outperformed and gained 1.51%.

Despite Thursday’s bounce, the major averages remain on pace to end the week in negative territory. The S&P 500 is off by 0.7% week to date, while the NASDAQ is down nearly 0.6%. The Dow is down 0.04% for the period.

On Friday, the central bank and all of Wall Street will be eyeing the April non-farm payrolls report, with close attention to changes in wages.
Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting 240,000 positions to have been added, marking a slowdown from the 303,000 jobs gained in March. They also anticipate that average hourly wages grew by 4% year over year, and they expect the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.8%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index jumped 1.5%. Markets in Japan were closed for holiday.

Oil prices took on 25 cents to $79.20 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices moved lower $2.10 to $2,307.50 U.S. an ounce.