Futures Zoom Ahead of U.S. Jobs Report

Futures for Canada's main stock index were higher on Friday, ahead of the closely watched U.S. jobs data.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index retreated 91.87 points to finish Thursday to 16,410.88

The Canadian dollar removed 0.01 cents to 74.24 cents U.S. early Friday

June futures advanced 0.3% Friday.

Jefferies cut the price target on Cronos Group to $15.00 from $17.00

Eight Capital raised the price target on Manulife Financial to $30.00 from $28.00

Desjardins cut the price target on Rogers Sugar to $6.00 from $6.25

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 8.63 points Thursday to 601.28

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stock index futures moved higher on Friday morning, as market participants await key U.S. employment data

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 78 points, or 0.3%, to 26,343

Futures for the S&P 500 tacked on 10 points, or 0.3%, at 2,927.50

NASDAQ futures leaped 47.5 points, or 0.6%, to 7,781.75

Friday’s session will focus on April jobs report, which is slated to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Analysts on Wall Street are expecting a gain of 196,000 jobs in April and a jobless rate of 3.8%, according to Dow Jones estimates. Job creation posted a solid rebound in March with non-farm payrolls expanding by 196,000 after February’s gain of just 20,000.

Overseas, Hong Kong markets pulled ahead 0.5%, while markets in Japan remained on holiday.

Oil prices gained eight cents to $61.89 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices were unchanged at $1,272.00 U.S. an ounce.