Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index as oil prices rose and commodity prices also gained after surveys of Chinese factory activity came in better than expected.
The S&P/TSX composite index hiked 174.05 points, or 1.3%, to close Wednesday at 13,306.96. The index fell 4% in September and 8.6% in the third quarter.
The Canadian dollar improved 0.18 cents at 75.31 cents U.S. early Thursday
Bombardier is exploring the sale of a stake in any of its business areas, not just its rail unit, to ensure it can finish development of its delayed CSeries jet. The Montreal-based company has hired investment bankers to look at a variety of financing options, the sources said, including selling aerospace or rail assets in full or in part, forming joint ventures or bringing in private equity investors.
Barrick Gold has not had talks over a sale of its 50% stake in Australia's Super Pit gold mine to its partner Newmont Mining Corp., Barrick adviser and ex-president Jim Gowans said on Thursday. Barrick has been busy auctioning off assets over the past year, including all its Australian mines except the Super Pit stake, to help cut debt. It aims to reduce debt by at least $3 billion this year.
Canadian regulators approved the hydrotest results of Enbridge’s Line 9 crude oil pipeline on Wednesday, clearing the way for the delayed 300,000 barrel-per-day route to the east of the country to start operating. The newly reversed Line 9 will ship mainly light inland crude from Sarnia, Ontario, to Montreal. It previously flowed in the opposite direction, taking imported crude to Ontario.
Penn West Petroleum said it would sell its non-operated 9.5% stake in Weyburn unit, a conventional oilfield in Southeast Saskatchewan, for $205 million. The company also cut its 2015 production forecast to 84,000–88,000 barrels of oil per day (boe/d) from 86,000– 90,000 boe/d.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on SNC-Lavalin Group Inc to $52.00 from $51.00 saying that the company’s Ambatovy sale is a right strategic move.
Canaccord Genuity resumed coverage on Stantec Inc with a hold rating to reflect that the company has quality growth, but medium-term headwinds are expected.
Theratechnologies Inc reports Q3 earnings today, expecting two cents per share
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 0.94 points Wednesday to 524.57
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are moving up and overseas markets are all rising.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 28 points, or 0.2%, to 16,200, futures for the S&P 500 picked up two points, or 0.1%, to 1,910.75, and futures for the NASDAQ advanced 10.5 points, or 0.3%, to 4,173.5.
Investors seem cheered by new economic data from China – manufacturing figures were certainly not stellar, but they were better than expected.
The official purchasing managers' index hit 49.8 in September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, up slightly from 49.7 the previous month.
Investors are keeping a close eye on Twitter after Re/code reported that the company could shortly announce that Jack Dorsey, its co-founder and interim CEO, will become its permanent CEO. This announcement has been expected for weeks.
Shares in Google and Microsoft are edging higher Thursday after the companies were reported to have agreed to drop various long-running lawsuits against one another.
Other tech companies are also showing some strength pre-market, indicating it could be an especially good day for the tech-heavy NASDAQ index.
Weekly jobless claims data will come from the U.S. Department of Labor. Then the Institute for Supply Management will release its ISM index for September at 10 a.m. The index gauges business conditions based on surveys with top business managers that make purchasing decisions. The index levels have stayed fairly even throughout 2015.
At the same time the Census Bureau will post construction spending data for August. Spending has increased every month so far this year, indicating strong housing and building development.
In Europe, many key indexes are climbing by about 1%. Asian markets ended with solid gains, though Chinese markets were closed Thursday for a holiday.
Oil prices gained $1.04 to $46.13 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices subtracted $1.13 to $1,113.84 U.S. an ounce.
