Futures Nose Up

Futures for Canada's main stock index edged up on Thursday, as gold continued its upward march, while investors looked forward to another day of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony and U.S. economic data.

The TSX Composite hung onto gains of 68.03 points Wednesday to 21,593.06.

March futures grabbed 0.2% Thursday.

Four brokerages raised price targets on software company Descartes Systems after its fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates.

The Canadian dollar poked up 0.09 cents to 74.09 cents U.S.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that in January, Canada's merchandise imports decreased 3.8%, while exports fell 1.7%. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade balance changed position for a second consecutive month, moving from a deficit of $863 million in December to a surplus of $496 million in January.

Also, January building permits increased 13.5% from December to $10.8 billion.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 6.73 points, or 1.2%, Wednesday to 575.01.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures inched down Thursday after the major averages posted their first winning session in three days.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials took on 30 points, or 0.1%, to 38,736.

Read:

• Global Efforts Intensify to Address Surging Young Adult Colorectal and Anal Cancer Rates

• Harnessing AI's $4.4 Trillion Potential Reshapes the Tech Industry Landscape

• Critical Push for US Domestic Nickel Needed to Halt Total Reliance on Questionable Foreign Imports

• How Argentina’s New Power Moves Look to Lure Even More Lithium Interest Towards the Country

• How Recent Biotech Breakthroughs Are Changing the Fight Against Breast Cancer

Futures for the S&P 500 grabbed 11.25 points, or 0.2%, to 5,123.

Futures for the NASDAQ advanced 72.25 points, or 0.4%, to 18,116.50.

Victoria’s Secret plunged 29% after posting mixed quarterly results and issuing disappointing guidance.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors finished higher, led to the upside by utilities. At one point, New York Community Bancorp tumbled more than 40% during Wednesday’s session, but it finished with a 7.5% gain after announcing a $1-billion capital raise. Apple fell for a sixth consecutive day, bringing its weekly losses to nearly 6%.

Investors monitored the first of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s appearances on Capitol Hill this week for more insight on the path ahead for interest rate cuts.

In addition to Powell’s remarks before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Wall Street is also on the lookout for the latest jobless claims data, and trade balance and consumer credit data for January. This comes ahead of February’s closely watched jobs report slated for Friday morning.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 erased 1.2% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 1.3%.

Oil prices faded 34 cents to $78.79 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices brightened $8.20 to $2,166.40.