Futures in Canada’s largest stock market were little changed on Friday even as oil prices rose amid ongoing OPEC-led production cuts and a pipeline outage in the North Sea.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faltered 120.13 points to close Thursday at 16,016.46
The Canadian dollar took on 0.13 cents to 78.29 cents U.S. Friday morning.
December futures docked 0.04% Friday.
Linamar said on Thursday it agreed to buy privately held MacDon Group for $1.2 billion, to strengthen its presence in the agricultural equipment market.
TD Securities raised the price target on K Bro Linen to $48.00 from $45.00
RBC cut the price target on ECN Capital to $4.50 from $5.00
TD Securities raised the price target on Empire Company to $26.00 from $25.00
On the economic front, Statistics Canada revealed that manufacturing sales declined 0.4% to $53.5 billion in October, following two consecutive monthly increases.
Sales of motor vehicles and other transportation equipment accounted for most of the decline in October
Elsewhere, the Canadian Real Estate Association said National home sales rose 3.9% from October to November.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 2.6% from November 2016. The number of newly listed homes climbed 3.5% from October to November.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 0.37 points Thursday to 798.20
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures are set for a positive open Friday, as investors shake off concerns surrounding overhauling the tax system and turn their attention to upcoming data.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 87 points, or 0.4%, to 24,644
S&P 500 futures gained 8.5 points, or 0.3%, to 2,664.50, while futures on the NASDAQ Composite index strengthened 19.5 points, or 0.3%, to 6,428.50
The GOP is expected to unveil their tax plan later on Friday.
Switching focus to Friday's session, a number of economic releases are due. At 8:30 a.m. ET, the Empire State Manufacturing survey was expected to come out, followed by industrial production data, due out at 9:15 a.m. ET. Treasury International Capital data will be released in the afternoon, at 4 p.m. ET.
Meantime, Friday also marks Quadruple Witching Day, where volatility is likely as stock index futures, stock index options, stock options, and single-stock futures expire.
Overseas, European stocks dipped into the red toward noon local time, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 settled 0.6%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.1%
Oil prices increased 17 cents to $57.21 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices jumped $6.20 to $1,263.30 U.S. an ounce.
