The Toronto stock market looked set for a higher open as traders pick up stocks that have sold off this month on worries about Greece leaving the euro-zone and a generally slowing economic conditions.
The pessimistic mood on markets has sent the TSX tumbling about 1,000 points or more than 8% to its lowest level since last October.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index picked up 4.48 points Thursday to 11,330.56
The Canadian dollar traded this morning up 0.33 cents to 98.44 cents U.S.
Markets are closed Monday in honour of Victoria Day
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 10.33 points to 1,228.07, while the Nasdaq Canada faded 0.15 points to 361.22.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks look set on Friday to shake off a dismal five-day losing streak, despite no let-up to the gloom flowing from Europe. U.S. index futures were pointing higher with about 90 minutes before the start of trading, suggesting that stocks will rise at the start of trading.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were up 53 points or 0.4% to 12,466. Futures for the broader S&P 500 were up 5.5 points or 0.5% to 1,306.80, while futures for the Nasdaq were up 11.5 points, or 0.5%, to 2,516.25
However, the direction of indexes is likely to be overtaken by interest in a single stock: Facebook Inc. starts trading on Friday morning, following an initial public offering that values the company at $104 billion U.S. The starting price: $38 U.S. The big question now is what (if any) that first-day pop is going to look like.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3% in overnight trading. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3% in overnight trading.
U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.6% in afternoon trading. Germany's DAX index rose 0.2% in afternoon trading.
Crude oil was $92.81 U.S. a barrel, up 25 cents
Gold was $1,591 U.S. an ounce, up $16.30
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