Futures for Canada's main stock index were lower on Friday as oil prices fell with U.S. President Donald Trump's new trade threat weighing on the demand outlook.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 49.22 points to wrap up Thursday at 16,082.57
The Canadian dollar collapsed 0.31 cents to 73.79 cents U.S. early Friday
June futures flopped 0.7% Friday.
CIBC raises target price on BRP Inc. to $52.00 from $50.00
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Lightspeed Pos to $30.00 from $25.00
Credit Suisse cut the target price on to $64.00 from $65.00
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s economy made its way upward- during March. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.1% in the first quarter, the same growth rate as the fourth quarter of 2018.
Real gross national income rose 0.9%, largely because of higher export prices of crude oil and crude bitumen.
Elsewhere, the agency’s industrial product price index rose 0.8% in April, driven mainly by higher prices for energy and petroleum products, while the raw materials price index increased 5.6%, primarily on the strength of higher crude energy product prices.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 1.85 points Thursday to 602.63.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock index futures tanked on Friday morning, as investors feared President Donald Trump’s surprise threat of tariffs on all Mexico imports, amid a worsening trade war with China, could risk sending the U.S. economy into a recession.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 273 points, or 1.1%, to 24,917
Futures for the S&P 500 dropped 31.5 points, or 1.1%, at 2,759. The S&P 500 was already down 5.3% this month through Thursday after trade talks fell apart with China and rhetoric on both sides worsened in May.
NASDAQ futures plummeted 101.5 points, or 1.4%, to 7,153.75
Shares of GM dropped more than 5% in pre-market trading. Ford lost 4% while Fiat Chrysler traded 5.2% lower. Both have significant production in Mexico that could be subject to tariffs. Shares of railroads Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific also fell.
On Thursday evening, Trump announced the U.S. would impose a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports from June 10 until illegal immigration across the southern border was stopped.
The White House added in a statement that tariffs would be raised if the immigration issue persisted, with the charges set to increase even further if Mexico fails to take "dramatic action" to reduce or eliminate the problem.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.6% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slipped 0.8%.
Oil prices dumped $1.18 to $55.41 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shot higher $10.20 to $1,302.60 U.S. an ounce.
