Baystreet.ca - Futures linked to Canadian stocks fell on Friday as investors awaited fresh domestic and U.S. economic data to get more clues on the monetary policy roadmap.The TSX Composite Index gained 64.45 points to close Thursday at 21,581.35.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.05 cents to 73.03 cents U.S. Futures dropped 0.6% Friday. In corporate news, food and beverage company Lassonde Industries announced an agreement to acquire U.S.-based specialty food manufacturer Zidian Group for $235 million.
On the economic docket, retail trade in this country increased 0.7% to $66.8 billion in April. The Industrial Product Price Index was unchanged month over month in May and rose 1.8% on a yearly basis. The Raw Materials Price Index declined 1.0% month over month in May and increased 7.6% year over year.
Housing prices rose 0.2% in April, exactly the same rate of increase as April 2023.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 0.55 points to finish Thursday at 572.43.
ON WALLSTREET
S&P 500 futures ticked were slightly lower Friday after the broad market benchmark briefly climbed above 5,500 for the first time.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dumped 95 points, or 0.2%, to 39,480. Futures for the S&P 500 backed off 13 points, or 0.2%, at 5,581.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite faltered 46.25 points, or 0.2%, to 19,985.25. As of Thursday’s close, all three major averages were on pace for weekly gains. The S&P 500 is tracking for a roughly 0.8% advance, while the NASDAQ is up 0.2%. The Dow is the outperformer, touting a 1.4% rise week to date.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 3.5% on Thursday, leading the information technology sector to drop 1.6%. Nonetheless, the chipmaker is still up more than 160% year to date, and it briefly beat Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) as the most valuable public company on Tuesday.
On Friday, investors will be looking toward manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers’ Index readings for June. Existing home sales data for May is also slated for release.Trading on Friday could also be more volatile than normal due to triple witching, the expiration of stock options, stock index options and stock index futures options.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 faded 0.1% Friday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was wounded 1.7%. Oil prices let go of a penny to $81.28 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices gained $9.60 to $2,378.60 U.S. an ounce.