Futures for stocks in Canada’s biggest centre were slightly higher on Thursday as oil prices rose after a fall in U.S. inventories and a bigger-than-expected cut in Saudi supplies to Asia helped tighten the market.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 64.01 points to close Wednesday 15,633.21 June futures crept up 0.04% Thursday
The Canadian dollar dished off 0.26 cents to 72.85 cents U.S. early Thursday.
However, a downgrade of Canadian banks by ratings agency Moody's is likely to weigh on investor sentiment.
Moody's Investor Service on Wednesday downgraded the long-term ratings for six Canadian banks, citing a more challenging operating environment for banks in Canada for 2017 and beyond.
Bombardier Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin will reportedly step down, following shareholder outcry over controversial executive pay hikes, and reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted net loss.
Even as the world's largest energy companies exit Canada's high-cost oil sands, Suncor Energy is lining up its next phase of growth in the world's third-largest crude reserves.
Canadian Tire Corp reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit on Thursday, helped by strong demand for its apparel and home products as well as higher margins at its financial business.
National Bank of Canada raised the rating on Cascades Inc. to outperform from sector perform
CIBC raised the target price on Franco-Nevada Corp. to $105 from $95
Barclays cut the target price on Sun Life Financial to $52.00 from $54.00
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index rose 0.2% in March compared with the previous month. Higher new house prices in Vancouver and Toronto led the gain.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 9.1 points, or 1.2%, Wednesday to 783.24
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday after the NASDAQ notched a record close and a five-day winning streak.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dumped 43 points, or 0.2%, to 20,850. Futures for the S&P 500 dipped six points, or 0.3%, to 2,389.25. NASDAQ futures lost 17 points, or 0.3%, to 5,658.50.
But tech stocks could come under pressure after Snap posted revenue that missed estimates and slower-than-expected revenue growth. The stock slumped more than 20% in after-hours trading.
Among companies reporting earnings, Nordstrom, CyberArk Software and Invitation Homes are due after the bell.
On the data front, the producer price index rose 0.5% in April, more than the expected increase of 0.2%. Initial jobless claims, meanwhile, totaled 236,000, below the expected 245,000.
European issues were lower as noon approached on the continent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 acquired 0.3%, while the CSI 300 in Shanghai shot higher 0.6%.
Oil prices picked up 52 cents to $47.85 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices gathered two dollars to $1,220.90 U.S. an ounce.
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