Canada's main stock index looked set to open higher on Friday after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data raised hopes about the outlook for the North American economy
The S&P/TSX index gained 58.35 points to end Thursday at 12,379.64, with futures up 0.3%.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.03 cents to 98.91 cents U.S. early Friday.
Eldorado Gold Corp posted a first-quarter loss on Thursday, hit by a $125.2-million charge related to a change in the Greek tax rate.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd said on Thursday its first-quarter profit fell by half as lower prices and one-time charges offset record oil production.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. unexpectedly rebounded to a profit in the first quarter, helped by strong underwriting results and investment gains.
BlackBerry said the U.S. Department of Defense has approved its new line of devices powered by the revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system to be used on DoD networks.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.87 points Thursday to 962.81
ON WALLSTREET
Investors felt their mouths water at strong jobs numbers for April, and it reflected in stock futures Friday morning.
Futures for the Dow Industrials soared 105 points, or 0.7%, to 14,865. Futures for the S&P 500 surged 12.4 points, or 0.8%, to 1,604.70, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 24.5 points, or 0.8%, to 2,926.50.
Warren Buffett's investment firm Berkshire Hathaway is scheduled to release quarterly earnings after the bell.
U.S. stocks finished higher Thursday, as a drop in jobless claims and the European Central Bank's interest rate cut fueled optimism on Wall Street.
LinkedIn shares plunged in pre-market trading after the professional-networking site on Thursday offered weak second-quarter guidance.
AIG shares rose after the insurer reported earnings that beat expectations Thursday.
European markets climbed higher in morning trading, though investors were also awaiting the U.S. jobs data before making any big decisions.
The European Union trimmed its forecast for the euro-zone gross domestic product, to a decline of 0.4% in 2013. The forecast for 2014 was also trimmed, to a gain of 1.2%.
Asian markets ended higher. The Shanghai Composite added 1.4% and the Hang Seng increased 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei 225 was closed for a holiday.
U.S. employment rose more than expected in April, pushing the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.5%.
At 10 a.m. ET, the Census Bureau will release data on factory orders and the Institute for Supply Management will release its monthly services-sector index.
Oil prices gained 30 cents $94.29 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices took on six dollars to $1,473.60 U.S.
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