Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for stocks in Canada on Thursday as commodities gained on the dollar's drop in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve's dovish tone for rate hikes this year.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index vaulted 141.3 points to close Wednesday at 15,520.91, with March futures ahead 0.3%.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.1 cents to 75.12 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Indian Oil Corp became India's first refiner to buy light sweet Hibernia crude from Suncor Energy, completing the deal after the opening of the arbitrage for Canadian oil to flow to Asia.
Canada Goose Holdings has priced its initial public offering at $17.00 per share, above its target range.
CIBC started coverage on Automotive Properties REIT with an outperform rating and $11.25 target price
Desjardins raised the rating on Bombardier to buy from hold
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that offshore investors increased their holdings in Canadian investment to $6.2 billion in January from $10.2 billion in December, while domestic investors hiked their holdings of foreign securities by $8.6 billion, led by purchases of U.S. instruments.
As a result, the agency says, international transactions in securities generated a net outflow of funds of $2.4 billion from the Canadian economy in the month, the first outflow since December 2015.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange soared 14.41 points, or 1.8%, Wednesday to 807.28
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday morning as traders eyed a big batch of data and continued to digest the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to increase interest rates.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 54 points, or 0.3%, to 20,952. Futures for the S&P 500 eked up 3.75 points, or 0.2%, to 2,384.25. NASDAQ futures moved up 8.75 points, or 0.2%, at 5,428.
Dollar General is set to report earnings before the bell, while Adobe Systems is due to report after the close.
Initial jobless claims, housing starts, and the Philly Fed Index are all due to be released early this morning, with JOLTS data set to come out a bit later.
European markets perked by noon on the continent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leaped 2.1% Thursday.
Oil prices picked up 43 cents to $49.29 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices hiked $27.90 to $1,228.60 U.S. an ounce.
