Futures tracking Canada’s blue-chip stocks fell on Friday, after oil prices hit their highest since May on escalation in the Middle East conflict, keeping investors concerned about prolonged inflation and higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates.
The TSX cratered 351.54 points, or 1%, to conclude Thursday at 35,973.45.
The Canadian dollar was flat at 71.41 cents U.S.
December futures lost 0.3% Friday morning.
In Canada, markets are pricing in a quarter-point Bank of Canada rate hike next week, and nearly a percentage-point hike over the next 12 months.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said engineering firm AtkinsRealis is in the running to help build Turkey's third nuclear power plant
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that jet maker Bombardier will invest $270 million in the U.S., days after he dropped threats to ban the company from the country
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported retail sales increased 1.2% to $74.6 billion in August. Sales were up in all nine subsectors, led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 26.58 points, or 3.1%, Thursday to 826.96.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equity futures edged lower on Friday after tech stocks sold off on concerns that the artificial intelligence trade could be faltering, at least in the near term.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 307 points, or 0.6%, early Friday to 52,761.
Futures for the S&P 500 lost 18 points, or 0.2%, to 7,686.50
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite gave up 20.75 points, or 0.1%, to 29,121.25.
The broad market benchmark posted its worst session since July, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ had its worst day since June. The Dow bucked the trend and closed marginally higher.
Worries around artificial intelligence spending weighed down the market and dragged the U.S. tech sector to a 3% decline on Thursday.
Nvidia dropped 4.4%, Alphabet fell 3.2%, and Advanced Micro Devices declined 8.1% as losses occurred in different parts of the technology sector.
Chip stocks were rebounding slightly on Friday with Micron and Nvidia in the green. However, Big Tech shares like Microsoft and Meta were lower again in early trading.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told the media on Thursday he thought capital for the AI buildout was becoming constrained, which shined light on an ongoing concern about the rally: that the financing environment — not demand — could hold the AI trade back.
CoreWeave, which has become the poster boy for data center companies using aggressive amounts of borrowed money, dropped 10% on Thursday. The shares were flat in early trading Friday.
On the week, the S&P 500 is heading for a slim gain, up less than 0.1%, while the NASDAQ is down 0.5% in the period. The Dow is tracking for a 1.7% advance.
On the economic front, traders will be watching for the final reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment report.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dipped 0.3% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng moved ahead 0.7%.
Oil prices progressed $1.73 to $101.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $17.80 to $4,042.60 U.S an ounce.
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