Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index, as investors digest U.S payrolls to gauge strength of the economy versus the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates later this year
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 65.07 points to close Thursday at 13,241.89.
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.17 cents at 75.53 cents U.S. early Friday
Enbridge Inc’s long-awaited start of its Line 9 oil pipeline to Montreal will allow Quebec refineries to run on 100% cheap North American inland crude, leaving around 100,000 barrels per day of foreign crude searching for a new home.
The Calgary-based energy company received approval from regulators on Wednesday to finally start operating the 300,000 bpd pipeline carrying mainly light crude from Sarnia, Ontario, to Montreal, Quebec, nearly a year after it was first expected in service.
National Bank Financial cut the rating on First National Financial Corp. to sector perform from outperform citing the bearish sentiment towards the Canadian housing market.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange picked up 1.31 points Thursday to 525.89
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are holding steady in the wake of the September jobs report.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials added 71 points, or 0.4%, to 16,261, futures for the S&P 500 gained 8.75 points, or 0.5%, to 1,925.5, and futures for the NASDAQ gathered 23.25 points, or 0.6%, to 4,210.75.
The addition of 142,000 jobs followed a revised 136,000 gain the prior month that was lower than previously estimated, a U.S. Labor Department report showed Friday in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 96 economists called for a 201,000 advance. The jobless rate held at 5.1% -- in line with expectations -- and wage growth was unchanged.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates later this year, but Fed members have been delaying a hike as they wait for the job market to show some real strength. (Fears about a slowdown in China have also held them back, too.)
Shares in Micron Technology are rallying by about 7% pre-market after the semiconductor firm reported earnings late Thursday that topped expectations. This was encouraging for investors who have seen the shares plummet by nearly 60% this year.
Shares in Wynn Resorts have suffered a similar fate in 2015 on concerns about its business in Macau. The stock is rebounding by 12% pre-market.
And investors are being urged to watch trading in T-Mobile and Experian. Experian suffered a major data breach where hackers have made off with personal information of 15 million people who applied to sign up for T-Mobile's service. T-Mobile used Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, to conduct credit checks on its customers.
Most European markets are strengthening in early trading, while Asian markets ended with mixed results
Oil prices gained 50 cents to $45.24 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices picked up $3.69 to $1,119.30 U.S. an ounce.
