Stock futures indicated a lower start for Canada's main stock index on Thursday, a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve gave no firm signal on the timing of its next rate move.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 16.43 points to finish Wednesday at 15,402.39, with March futures off 0.08%
The Canadian dollar rose 0.35 cents to 76.97 cents U.S. early Thursday.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but gave no firm signal of a hike in March, as it awaits more clarity on President Donald Trump's fiscal policies, adding another layer to the uncertainty triggered by his recent comments and decisions.
BCE Inc. reported a 32.5% rise in quarterly profit as it added customers and earned more per subscriber in its postpaid wireless business.
Mercedes maker Daimler’s chief executive says he expects NAFTA free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada will continue under new President Trump
NBF raised the target price on CGI Group to $80.00 from $76.00, with an outperform rating
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange vaulted 6.56 points Wednesday to 813.90
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open in New York on Thursday as traders eyed a big day of earnings and digested economic data.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials backpedaled 54 points, or 0.3%, to 19,762. Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 6.25 points, or 0.3%, to 2,268.25. NASDAQ futures fell 14.5 points, or 0.3%, at 5,134.
On the earnings front, Estee Lauder, Delphi Automotive and International Paper are among the companies that reported before the bell. Amazon.com, Amgen, Visa and GoPro are among companies set to report after the bell.
On the data front, initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to 246,000. The print is also below a consensus estimate of 250,000. Fourth-quarter non-farm productivity rose 1.3%. Investors also looked ahead to the January jobs report, which is scheduled for release Friday morning.
European markets were lower by noon on the continent, while Asia markets were almost uniformly lower, the Nikkei skidding 1.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.6%.
Oil prices eked up nine cents to $53.97 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices bolstered $17.50 to $1,225.80 U.S. an ounce.
