Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for equities in Canada’s largest market on Thursday, tracking a fierce rally in commodities and resource stocks following talk that Saudi Arabia has its sights on $80-$100 U.S.-per-barrel oil again.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rocketed 176.67 points, or 1.2%, to end Wednesday at 15,529.97
The Canadian dollar acquired 0.22 cents to 79.41 cents U.S. early Thursday
June futures advanced 0.2% Thursday.
Kinder Morgan Canada reported on Wednesday an 5.1% drop in first-quarter profit hurt by a fall in volumes of crude oil and refined products transports.
Canadian Pacific Railway's first-quarter profit topped analysts' expectations as the railroad operator shipped higher volumes of commodities such as potash and crude oil, offsetting the impact of higher expenses.
CIBC raised its target price on the stock to $270.00 from $263.00
GrafTech International raised $525 million in its U.S. initial public offering on Wednesday, netting owner Brookfield Asset Management Inc a smaller-than-expected windfall.
CIBC raised the target price on Roots Corp. to $14.00 from $12.00
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries decreased by 11,300, or 2.3%, in February to 480,200, the lowest level since comparable data became available in 1997.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.05 points Wednesday to 802.60
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures fluctuated ahead of Thursday's open, as earnings season continued to deliver fresh results.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 33 points, or 0.1%, to 24,700
S&P 500 futures faded 5.5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,704.25, while futures for the NASDAQ composite index slumped 17.5 points, or 0.3%, to 6,826
While politics continues to shake up markets, investors in the U.S. have been turning their attention to the corporate space this week, as a slew of earnings are released.
On Thursday, Procter & Gamble and Blackstone are some of the major names scheduled to publish their latest earnings. Bank of New York Mellon reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue.
In data, jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing business outlook survey were both due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 moved up 0.2%, but in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index picked up 1.4%.
Oil prices hiked 86 cents to $69.33 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices lowered 80 cents to $1,352.70 U.S. an ounce.
