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Slight Gains in Store for TSX
Futures for Canada's main stock index edged higher on Thursday, supported by a rise in gold prices as the dollar slipped and optimism grew over a fresh U.S. stimulus package.
The TSX recovered 61.28 points on the day to end Wednesday at 17,358.21
The Canadian dollar was unchanged Thursday at 77.41 cents U.S.
December futures nosed ahead 0.2% Thursday.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on lower bad loan provisions.
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Eldorado Gold to $21.00 from $22.00
RBC cut the rating on National Bank of Canada to sector perform from outperform
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.69 points to close Tuesday at 757.11.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were flat on Thursday following a record high for the S&P 500, as investors monitored stimulus talks and new economic data.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials Index were unchanged at 29,868.
Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 0.5 points at 3,667.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite picked 35.5 points, or 0.3%, to 12,489.75.
Investors awaited initial claims data Thursday morning, which will offer a final reading on the job market before Friday’s major jobs report. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect 780,000 new jobless claims, roughly unchanged from the prior week.
Read: The Mental Health Miracle Taking Wall Street By Storm
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement calling on Republicans to work with them on another round of COVID relief funding, using a bipartisan proposal from Senate moderates as a starting point.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not endorse the $908-billion proposal after it was released on Tuesday, and the Kentucky Republican has repeatedly said he believes the next round of stimulus should be smaller at around $500 billion.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus infections have accelerated in the U.S. where more than 100,000 patients are currently hospitalized, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. That is significantly above the peak during the first wave in the spring, when cases were concentrated in the northeastern part of the country.
On Wednesday, the U.K. became the first country to grant emergency approval to the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
Regulators in the U.S. are expected to make determinations on that vaccine and a similar vaccine from Moderna later this month, possibly allowing distribution to begin before the start of 2021.
Still, the rollout of the vaccine is expected to take many months as pharmaceutical companies ramp up production for the global population, with many health experts warning of a tough winter in the United States.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained more than eight points Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.7%
Oil prices sank 30 cents to $44.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices improved $14.40 to $1,844.60 U.S.
