Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for markets in Toronto on Thursday following a dip in oil prices as bloated U.S. inventories limited the impact of supply disruption in Libya.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened 59.06 points to finish Wednesday trading at 15,657.63. June futures dipped 0.2% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.02 cents at 75.03 cents U.S. early Thursday.
ConocoPhillips on Wednesday agreed to sell oil sands and western Canadian natural gas assets to Cenovus Energy Inc for $17.7 billion, making it the latest international oil major to pull back from a region where high costs and low crude prices have made it hard for large companies to make an acceptable return.
Billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman has apologized to clients for betting on Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, telling them he was "deeply and profoundly sorry" for losing so much of their money on the investment.
Desjardins raised the target price on AGF Management to $7.00 with a buy rating
RBC started coverage on Black Diamond Group with a sector perform rating, and a $4.25 target price
RBC cut the target price on Redknee Solutions to $1.00 from $1.75
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index increased 0.1% during February, mostly due to higher prices for meat, fish and dairy products and primary non-ferrous metal products.
The Raw Materials Price Index gained 1.2%, mainly as a result of higher prices for animals and animal products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 7.93 points, or nearly 1%, to close Wednesday at 812.05
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday as traders digested a few pieces of data and awaited Federal Reserve speakers.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials shed nine points to 20,592. Futures for the S&P 500 gave back one point to 2,356. NASDAQ futures lost two points to 5,434.
Initial jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 258,000. Meanwhile, the final read on fourth-quarter gross domestic product showed growth of 2.1%, above a preliminary read of 1.9%.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams is slated to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET. New York Fed President William Dudley is due to speak at 4:30 p.m. ET.
European markets were quite flat by noon hour on the continent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.8% and Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index also dipped 0.8%.
Oil prices gained 32 cents to $49.83 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices slid seven dollars to $1,246.70 U.S. an ounce.
