Futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Thursday, as oil prices surged after a suspected attack on two tankers near Iran.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 21.52 points short of breakeven to conclude Wednesday at 16,227.24
The Canadian dollar gained 0.17 cents to 75.16 cents U.S. early Thursday
June futures gained 0.2% Thursday.
Hudson's Bay Co reported a 3.3% fall in first-quarter revenue on fewer stores and lower sales in its Lord & Taylor unit.
Dollarama reported a nearly 2% rise in quarterly profit as more customers shopped at its stores.
Vermilion Energy has begun drilling its first exploration well in Croatia and should have initial results on the presence of oil or gas within five weeks, the Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency said.
CIBC raised the target price CGI Inc. to $101.00 from $100.00
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Roots Corp. to $5.00 from $5.50
On the economic front, Statistics Canada said its new housing price index remained unchanged in April for the third straight month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.33 points to finish Wednesday at 591.65
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday, indicating the resumption of this month’s rally, after Wall Street suffered back-to-back losses.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average acquired 71 points, or 0.3%, to 26,078.
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 7.5 points, or 0.3%, at 2,888.50.
NASDAQ futures took on 27.25 points, or 0.4%, to 7,500.50
Chipmakers rebounded after posting sharp losses in the previous session, boosting tech shares in the pre-market. Applied Materials and Advanced Micro Devices both rose 1% while Micron Technology advanced 0.5%. Apple shares also rose 0.6%.
Among oil concerns, Devon Energy and Marathon Oil were the best performers, rising more than 2% each.
The major indexes posted small losses in each of the previous two sessions as a rally to start off June took a pause. The major indexes were all up more than 4% for the month, however, after notching sharp losses in May.
Still, lingering trade tensions kept investors on edge. Washington and Beijing have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods since the start of 2018, battering financial markets and souring business and consumer sentiment.
Expectations have been fading of late that trade officials from the U.S. and China will clinch a deal on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Osaka on June 28-29.
On the data front, import prices for May and the latest weekly jobless claims figures will both be released.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 skidded 0.5% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dipped 0.1%
Oil prices moved higher $2.06 to $53.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $3.60 to $1,340.40 U.S. an ounce.
