Futures for Canada's resources-heavy main stock index edged higher on Thursday as commodity prices rose, while dovish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell boosted risk appetite globally.
The TSX fell 16.33 points to close Wednesday at 20,751.05.
March futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.2% Thursday morning.
The Canadian dollar sank 0.09 cents to 75.24 cents U.S.
Canadian earnings season picked up pace, with telecom major BCE Inc reporting a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.
Rogers Communications, Canada Goose and software firm Lightspeed Commerce are expected to report their quarterly results before markets open.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada said the monthly total seasonally adjusted value of building permits in Canada decreased 7.3% in December to $10.3 billion. Declines were posted in both the residential and the non-residential sectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 3.66 points Wednesday to 629.83.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures linked to the NASDAQ were higher Thursday, boosted by sharp gains from Facebook-parent Meta Platforms.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dumped 81 points, or 0.2%, early Thursday to 34,067.
Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 22 points, or 0.5%, to 4,154.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite leaped 194.25 points, or 1.6%, to 12,608.50.
Meta surged more than 19% in pre-market trading after reporting a fourth-quarter beat on revenue and announcing a $40-billion stock buyback. That helped investors look past losses in the business unit overseeing the metaverse.
The moves follow a positive day for the three major indexes. The S&P 500 gained 1.05% on Wednesday, while the NASDAQ closed 2% higher. Meanwhile, the Dow eked out a narrow 0.02% gain after dropping more than 500 points earlier in the day.
Wednesday’s gains came after the Federal Reserve announced a 0.25-percentage-point interest rate hike was announced. That marked a pull back from the 0.5 percentage point increase at December’s meeting, bolstering investor optimism that inflation is cooling enough for the central bank to take notice. But the central bank gave no indication of an upcoming pause in rate hikes.
Investors will watch Thursday for earnings reports from household names including Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Ford Motor and Starbucks. They will also look for data on jobless claims, productivity, labor costs and factory orders.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng ditched 0.5%.
Oil prices dipped 19 cents to $76.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged $25.70 to $1,968.50 U.S. an ounce.
