Futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday ahead of January factory data in a week dominated by worries over trade wars.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 17.01 points to close Thursday at 15,670.62
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.22 cents to 76.39 cents U.S. early Friday
March futures gained 0.2% Friday.
French cosmetics group L'Oreal said it was buying Canadian beauty technology company ModiFace, as it looks to roll out more digital services such as virtual make-up tests.
RBC raised the rating on Intact Financial to outperform from sector perform
CIBC initiates coverage on Slate Office REIT with neutral rating
The U.S. Justice Department says the chief executive of a Vancouver-based company appeared in a Washington state court on Thursday in the first U.S. case in which a company has been targeted for providing criminal drug cartels with the technology to evade law enforcement
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investors resumed their investment in Canadian securities by adding $5.7 billion to their holdings in January. Meanwhile, Canadian investment in foreign securities totaled $13.3 billion, a second consecutive month of strong acquisitions.
Elsewhere, manufacturing sales decreased 1.0% to $54.9 billion in January. Declines in the motor vehicles, the aerospace product and parts, as well as the primary metal industries were responsible for the overall drop.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nicked up 0.8 points Thursday to 828.08
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures fluctuated ahead of Friday's open, as investors' tried to shake off concerns surrounding the U.S. administration.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 15 points, or 0.1%, to 24,909
S&P 500 futures inched up 0.75 points to 2,756.25 while futures on the NASDAQ Composite faded 3.75 points, or 0.1%, to 7,066.75
Tiffany is due to report its latest earnings report before the bell. Meantime, Friday marks quadruple-witching day and quadruple-witching hour, where during the final hour of market trading, stock index futures, index options, stock options, and single-stock futures expire.
The moves in pre-market trade come after Wall Street saw a choppy trading day Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing up more than 100 points and other major indexes closing lower. Political developments continue to rattle investor sentiment, with markets overseas seeing their gains capped due to developments within the White House.
President Donald Trump has reportedly decided to remove national security advisor H.R. McMaster from the U.S. administration, according to a report by a key media outlet Thursday. The White House has however gone onto deny that any changes are set to emerge within the National Security Council.
Other media outlets reported on Friday that White House chief of staff John Kelly could depart the administration as early as today.
Switching focus to the final day of the trading week, data are expected to be front and center. At 8:30 a.m. ET, housing starts, building permits and the Business Leaders Survey are all scheduled to be released, followed by industrial production data at 9:15 a.m. ET. Finally consumer sentiment and Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) are due out at 10 a.m. ET.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 doffed 0.6%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.1%.
Oil prices gained 17 cents to $61.36 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices improved $2.30 to $1,320.10 U.S. an ounce.
