Futures Muted Ahead of Economic Data

Futures for Canada's main stock index were little changed on Thursday, as markets braced for key economic data from home and the U.S., while lower commodity prices are expected to weigh on resource shares.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index plummeted 367.07 points, or 1.7%, to close Wednesday to 21,897.98.

The Canadian dollar inched up 0.07 cents to 72.97 cents U.S.

June futures were flat Thursday.

In corporate news, Royal Bank of Canada reported a rise in second-quarter profit as the lender's personal and commercial banking unit benefited from higher interest income.

Brookfield, together with Brookfield Renewable Partners and Singapore's Temasek Holdings, has entered into exclusive discussions to buy a majority stake in French renewable power producer Neoen valuing it at around $6.6 billion.

In matters economic, payroll numbers came out for March, and showed the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer increased by 51,400 (+0.3%) in March following an increase of 14,600 (+0.1%) in February. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up by 232,100 (+1.3%) in March.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange lost 1.56 points to finish off Wednesday at 609.47.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stock futures pointed to another downbeat session on Thursday, as shares of Salesforce slid on a quarterly revenue miss and soft guidance.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 347 points, or 0.7%, to 38,177.

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Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 21.25 points, or 0.4%, at 5,262.75.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite lost 58.73 points, or 0.3%, to 18,744.

Salesforce plunged around 16% after missing revenue expectations for the fiscal first quarter. The company’s earnings and revenue outlook for the second quarter also fell short of the Street’s estimates. Retailer American Eagle Outfitters also declined 8% after first-quarter revenue missed analysts’ forecasts.

During Wednesday’s session, the NASDAQ fell about 0.6%, posting its worst session in May despite an 0.8% advance for Nvidia. The S&P 500 declined 0.7%, and the Dow slid nearly 1.1%.

It was a notably difficult day for the equity markets. More than 400 stocks in the S&P 500 were negative on the day, and all 11 sectors tumbled.

On Thursday, investors will be looking toward weekly jobless claims numbers. The second reading of the real gross domestic product for the first quarter is also due.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 sank 1.3%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index also fell 1.3%.

Oil prices fell 15 cents to $79.08 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices slipped $7.80 to $2,349.30 U.S. an ounce.