Toronto's main stock index looked set to open higher on Friday, taking cues from its neighbour to the south, after robust earnings from JPMorgan marked a strong start for the U.S. banks earnings season.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended Thursday up 21.53 points, to 12,233.95. Futures eked up 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar added 0.09 cents Friday morning to 102.26 cents U.S.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that Canada wants a growing relationship with China, but that investments must be scrutinized from a national security perspective.
One company to watch this morning is Canadian Pacific Railway, who said that its CFO Kathryn McQuade will retire on Nov. 1, the fourth senior executive to leave Canada's second-largest railroad, after an intense proxy battle earlier this year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 2.21 points Thursday to 1,299.94
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks futures south of the border, well, went north Friday morning after JPMorgan reported better-than-expected earnings.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials improved 37 points, or 0.3%, to 13,302, about 30 minutes before the opening bell. Futures for the S&P 500 moved higher by 3.7 points, or 0.3%, to 1,432.10, and for the Nasdaq, futures picked up 5.75 points, or 0.3%, to 2,719.
JPMorgan shares rose 1% after the bank reported record earnings of $1.40 U.S. per share on revenue of $25.9 billion U.S., beating expectations on both. CEO Jamie Dimon credited the improvement by saying that the housing market has "turned the corner."
Investors will be parsing through the report to find additional details about this year's earlier multi-billion-dollar trading loss. The bank's stock price has largely recovered since its London Whale fiasco came to light, but it still hasn't returned to its 2012 peak.
Wells Fargo, which reports later this morning, is expected to post earnings of 87 cents a share on $21.5 billion U.S. in revenue.
Following those reports, investors will have some economic data to chew on. A U.S. Labor Department report on producer prices for September is due, and prices are expected to have increased by 0.8%, according to a survey of analysts.
Then, later on, the University of Michigan will report its Consumer Sentiment Index for October, which likely ticked up to 78.5 from 78.3 the previous month.
European stocks were lower in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 and the DAX in Germany shed 0.1%, while France's CAC 40 dipped 0.2%.
In Asia, markets ended mixed as the region struggles with worries about economic growth. In China, where trade and inflation data will be reported in the next three days, the Shanghai Composite edged higher 0.1% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.7%.
National officials also guided the yuan much higher versus the dollar following weeks of criticism from U.S. President Obama and presidential challenger Mitt Romney.
Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% as a few companies weighed down markets there. SoftBank stock fell sharply after it became clear the company is in talks to buy Sprint, the third largest U.S. carrier, for more than $12 billion U.S. Worsening Sino-Japanese relations over an island territorial dispute also continue to harm firms because of actions like the auto boycott by China.
Oil prices rose 22 cents to $92.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell five cents $1,770.10 U.S. an ounce.
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