Canadian stock index futures were lower as investors cautiously await annual inflation data and retail sales figures.
The S&P/TSX Composite moved higher 7.75 points to conclude Thursday’s session at 14,848.24
The Canadian dollar was virtually unchanged at 75.59 cents U.S. early Friday.
Precision Drilling reported its net loss narrowed to $47.4 million, or 16 cents per share, from $86.7 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.
Bombardier will shed jobs for the second time this year, cutting about 10% of its global workforce over two years as it deepens turnaround efforts at its rail division.
CIBC raised the target price on Altagas to $35.00 from $34.00, citing the company’s project development momentum and third-quarter results beat.
CIBC also raised the target price on Mullen Group to $20 from $19.50, after the company completed three small tuck-in acquisitions during the quarter
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported its Consumer Price Index rose 1.3% on a year-over-year basis in September, following a 1.1% increase in August.
The agency went on to say that, on a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, CPI was up 0.2% in September, after decreasing 0.1% in August.
Moreover, retail sales edged down 0.1% to $44.0 billion in August. StatsCan reported that lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, and general merchandise stores were the main contributors to the decline. Excluding these two sub-sectors, retail sales were up 0.2%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.42 points Thursday to 785.98
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures stateside pointed to a lower open on Friday as traders eyed several big earnings reports and anticipated comments from Federal Reserve speakers.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials retreated 41 points, or 0.2%, to 18,067, while futures for the S&P 500 dropped 5.75 points, or 0.3%, to 2,131.25. NASDAQ futures slipped 3.5 points, or 0.1%, at 4,840.25.
On the earnings front, McDonald's, SunTrust and Synchrony Financial are among companies set to report before the bell.
Industrial giants General Electric and Honeywell posted results before the open as well, with GE beating earnings expectations but falling short of sales estimates. GE also narrowed its 2016 earnings guidance. Honeywell, meanwhile, beat consensus on both counts.
On Tuesday after the close, Microsoft posted better-than-expected results. The tech giant's stock was on pace to open at a new all-time high.
Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo is set to speak in New York at 10:15 a.m. ET. San Francisco Fed President John Williams is due to speak at 2:30 p.m. ET in San Francisco.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx-600 index was 0.1% higher. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.3% lower. The Shanghai Composite in China closed 0.2% higher. Markets in Hong Kong were canceled for the day in the wake of a typhoon set to hit the city-state.
Oil prices gained 33 cents to $50.96 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices faded $1.20 to $1,266.30 U.S. an ounce.
