Futures for Canada's main stock index were virtually unchanged on Friday, as buoyant sentiment owed to stronger oil prices was countered by concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant threatening global recovery.
The S&P/TSX Composite spiked 297.43 points, or 1.5%, by close of business Thursday to 20,762.03.
Futures were flat Friday.
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.03 cents to 77.98 cents U.S. Friday.
Toronto-Dominion Bank sounded a cautious note about next year's outlook due to inflation and the end of stimulus measures after better-than-expected earnings, while rival Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce missed estimates due to higher expenses and loan-loss provisions.
Back to TD, RBC raised its target price on the bank’s stock to $104.00 from $91.00
CIBC initiated coverage on Fairfax Financial Holdings with an outperform rating.
JP Morgan raised the target price on TCP Energy to $68.00 from $67.00
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 154,000 jobs in November, thus driving down the unemployment rate to 6%. within 0.3 percentage points of what it was in February 2020.
The jobs numbers were 186,000, or 1.0%, higher than its pre-COVID February 2020 level.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 7.7 points to end Thursday at 910.22.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures rose slightly in early trading Friday ahead of the November jobs report as the market nears the end of a roller-coaster week driven by COVID omicron variant developments.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials forged ahead 66 points or 0.2%, to 34,688.
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 8.75 points, or 0.2%, to 4,584.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ added 42.5 points, or 0.3%, to 16,031.
The U.S. Labor Department said the domestic economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, before a new COVID threat created a scare that growth could slow into the winter.
Non-farm payrolls increased by just 210,000 for the month, though the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.2%. The Dow Jones estimate was for 573,000 new jobs and a jobless level of 4.5%.
Stocks tied closely to the virus have led the market on its week-long seesaw, and that continued Friday. Companies that benefit from the economic expansion, such as hotels and airlines, led losers, while vaccine leader Moderna was among the biggest gainers, with its shares rising 6% in premarket trading.
Hilton Worldwide was off 1.4% and Delta Air Lines fell 1.2% pre-market.
The omicron variant has now been detected in five U.S. states, with symptoms so far reported as mild.
Elsewhere in markets, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi announced during Asia trading hours on Friday that it will start delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and make plans to list in Hong Kong instead. Shares fell 4% in premarket trading.
Overseas, markets in Japan gained 1% Friday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong docked 0.1%.
Oil prices shot up $1.83 to $68.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $12.90 to $1,775.60 U.S. an ounce.
