Canadian stock futures were slightly higher on Monday as oil rose sharply, extending gains made last week on signs of lower U.S. inventories and stronger demand.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved higher 39.81 points to finish Friday and the week at 15,174.81
September futures gained 0.1% early Monday.
The Canadian dollar deducted 0.1 cents to 78.97 cents early Monday
Canada's fund managers are set to plow more money into shares of cyclical, industrial and technology companies as the Bank of Canada hikes interest rates, and to allocate a greater share of their bond portfolio to short-term corporate debt.
RBC cut the target price CRH Medical to $8.50 from $10
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said foreign investment in Canadian securities amounted to $29.5 billion in May, mainly purchases of government debt instruments.
At the same time, Canadian investors increased their holdings of foreign securities by $4.4 billion, led by investments in U.S. debt instruments.
Elsewhere, the Canadian Real Estate Association was due out with figures regading re-sales of Canadian homes for June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recouped 4.62 points Friday to 757.55
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Monday, as investors turned their attention to corporate earnings results.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials added 17 points, or 0.1%, to 21,612. Futures for the S&P 500 gained 2.25, or 0.1%, to 2,458.25. NASDAQ futures took on 10.25 points, or 0.2%, to 5,853.50
BlackRock reported weaker-than-expected results, but said its exchange-traded fund business saw record inflows. Netflix is expected to report after the bell.
Investors will also be looking out for the Empire State Manufacturing survey.
Last Friday, data revealed that consumer prices remained unchanged in June and retail sales fell for the second straight month. The economic news is likely to dampen expectations of strong economic growth in the second quarter; with investors wondering what this may mean for rate hike strategy by the Federal Reserve going forward.
In the political sphere, investors will be keeping an eye out for any more noise coming out of the White House, as the Russia-linked scandal continues to cause reverberations in markets.
European markets were under pressure Monday morning, while Shanghai’s CSI 300 ducked lower 1.1%. Markets in Japan were shuttered for holiday.
Oil prices slid eight cents to $46.46 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices gained $6.30 to $1,233.80 U.S. an ounce.
