Baystreet.ca - Futures tied to Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, taking cues from Wall Street counterparts, ahead of U.S. jobs data and domestic retail sales numbers expected later in the day.
The TSX gained 29.87 points Wednesday to 25,311.50.
March futures on the S&P/TSX index was 0.2% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar was lower 0.04 cents to 69.43 cents U.S. Thursday.
In corporate news, RBC (TSX:RY) downgraded the rating of AG Growth International to "sector perform" from "outperform".
On the economic agenda, Statistics Canada says retail sales were relatively unchanged in November. Sales were down in six out of nine subsectors, led by lower sales at food and beverage retailers. Higher sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations and fuel vendors (+0.7%) largely offset declines in the remaining subsectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange forged ahead 3.88 points Wednesday to 618.04.
ON WALLSTREET
S&P 500 futures ticked lower early Thursday as Wall Street wondered if record highs were once again in the cards.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials forged ahead 19 points to 44,372.
Futures for the S&P 500 Index slid 9.75 points, or 0.2%, to 6,110.75.
Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ were plastered 114.75 points, or 0.5%, to 21,885.75.
The stock market is getting a boost from excitement about potential tax cuts and deregulation under President Donald Trump, as well as signs of resilient economic growth.
The fourth-quarter earnings season is also off to a strong start, with Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) climbing more than 9% in Wednesday’s trading after reporting a blowout quarter.
Investors will also get updated readings on the economy Thursday. Initial jobless claims are due out before the opening bell, followed Kansas City Fed manufacturing data later in the day.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.8% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 0.4%.
Oil prices edged up 15 cents to $75.59 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $23.70 to $2,747.20 U.S. an ounce.