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Futures Look Higher
Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for equity markets in Canada on Thursday, as oil prices rose despite warnings that a 13% rally since early December was close to running its course.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 71.29 points to close Wednesday at 16,247.95
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.3 cents to 79.49 cents U.S. Thursday morning.
March futures eked up 0.1% Thursday.
Canada is increasingly convinced that U.S. President Donald Trump will soon announce the United States intends to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, two government sources said on Wednesday, sending the Canadian and Mexican currencies lower and hurting stocks.
The operator of a U.S. offshore natural gas pipeline says the project could begin restarting operations for some producers next month, about three months after the line was shut due to a fire on a Royal Dutch Shell platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
On the economic slate, Canadians saw little overall change in new home prices in November, according to Statistics Canada.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 13.78 points to finish Wednesday at 910.84
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures edged slightly higher ahead of the open on Thursday, as investors took note of the mixed sentiment in markets overseas.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 34 points, or 0.1%, to 25,385
S&P 500 futures gained 4.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,754.75 while futures on the NASDAQ Composite picked up 11.5 points, or 0.2%, to 6,688.75
FuelCell Energy Inc. is foremost among a sparse list of companies declaring earnings.
In the previous trading day, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ snapped a six-day winning streak, both closing lower as investors fretted over the possibility of China halting its Treasury bond purchases, and the U.S.' future involvement in NAFTA.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that officials in Beijing had recommended that China's government lowers — or even potentially ceases — its buying of U.S. sovereign debt.
However, on Thursday, China's currency regulator said the country was diversifying its foreign exchange reserves while dismissing the media report on U.S. bonds
First off, jobless claims are due out, along with producer price index (PPI) data. The Monthly Treasury Statement is then expected to come out at 2 p.m. ET.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.2%.
Oil prices surged 33 cents to $63.90 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices gained $2.90 to $1,322.20 U.S. an ounce.
