Futures Soar Day after BoC Announcement

Futures for Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, a day after the benchmark index posted its worst session in nearly a month, buoyed by gains in gold prices and prospects of encouraging corporate earnings.

The TSX Composite got bruised 218.46 points, or 1%, to close Wednesday at 20.954.99.

The Canadian dollar added 0.09 cents to 80.93 cents U.S.

December futures zoomed 0.5% Thursday.

Bombardier posted a smaller second-quarter loss on Thursday, as demand for private jets from corporations and wealthy buyers returned after the pandemic crimped sales last year.

Suncor Energy doubled its dividend on Wednesday as a rebound in crude prices from pandemic-driven lows helped it post a third-quarter profit compared with a year-ago loss.

National Bank of Canada raised the price target on Allied Properties REIT to $52.00 from $50.00

ATB Capital Markets raised the target price on Topaz Energy to $24.00 from $22.00

ATB Capital Markets raised the price target on Trican Well Service to $4.00 from C$3.75

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported payroll employment increased by 59,700 , or 0.4%, in August, driven by gains in the services-producing sector in Ontario and Quebec.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange swooned 11.97 points, or 1.3%, Wednesday to 946.79

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures edged higher in pre-market trading Thursday, a day after after the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped from their record highs and as Wall Street looked to more earnings news and an important read on economic growth.

Futures for the Dow gained 69 points, or 0.2%, to 35,459.

Futures for the S&P 500 added 13.5 points, or 0.3%, to 4,558

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Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index climbed 82.75 points, or 0.5%, to 15,670.

Major averages have been marching higher on earnings momentum this month. The S&P 500 has gained 5.6% in October, on pace to post its best month since November 2020. The Dow is up 4.9% this month, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ has rallied 5.5%.

Ford saw its shares jump more than 9% on blockbuster earnings while also raising guidance. The automaker said increased availability of semiconductors during the quarter allowed it to ramp up production.

Shares of Twilio fell around 13% in after-hours trade, despite a beat on both earnings and revenue for the third quarter, after the cloud communications platform projected a fourth-quarter loss. Ebay also fell by about 5% on weak fourth-quarter revenue guidance.

Pharmaceutical giant and Dow component Merck saw its shares rise nearly 1% pre-market after the company posted an earnings beat on the top and bottom lines. Fellow bluechip index company Caterpillar topped profit estimates but fell just shy on revenue, sending its shares up nearly 2%.

The market will be getting more big earnings news, with tech giants Amazon and Apple reporting after the closing bell. Comcast posted a solid earnings beat before the bell, sending shares up 3.4%.

Nearly 40% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings and more than 80% of them beat Wall Street expectations, according to media calculations. S&P 500 companies are expected to grow profit by about 37.6% in the third quarter.

Investors awaited the first estimate for third-quarter annualized gross domestic product growth from the Commerce Department. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of just 2.8% as products remained stranded at normally bustling ports, employers struggled to find workers and consumers battled with inflation.

Wall Street was also monitoring events in Washington, where Democrats and President Joe Biden appear to be nearing a deal on a social spending bill. NBC News reported that Biden will unveil details of the deal later on Thursday morning.

Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 sank 1% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 0.3%.

Oil prices faded $1.09 to $81.57 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices brightened $5.30 to $1,804.10 U.S. an ounce.