Canadian stocks looked set for a slightly higher to flat opening on Friday, with all eyes on the U.S. monthly job numbers.
The S&P/TSX composite index finished day ahead 12.20 points to 14,664.07. June futures nicked up 0.04%
The Canadian dollar eased 0.03 cents to 91.21 cents U.S. early Friday.
Torstar Corp said it would sell romance novel business Harlequin Enterprises Ltd to News Corp for $455 million U.S.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc's energy unit said it would buy AltaLink, Alberta's largest electricity transmission company, from SNC-Lavalin Group Inc for about $2.9 billion U.S. in cash.
Fairfax Financial Holdings, the property and casualty insurer run by investment guru Prem Watsa, said first-quarter profit more than quadrupled due to strong investment gains and improved underwriting results.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved higher 5.02 points Thursday to 1,006.52
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were fairly flat Friday, as Wall Street digested the all-important monthly U.S. jobs report.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials nicked ahead three points to 16,491. Futures for the S&P 500 eked up 1.6 points, or 0.1%, at 1,879.30, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 2.25 points, or 0.1%, to 3,589.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy added 288,000 jobs last month, lowering the unemployment rate to 6.3% -- the lowest it’s been since September 2008 – from 6.7% in March. Economists were predicting only 205,000 new jobs.
Shares in AstraZeneca were flat in pre-market trading after the company rejected an improved bid for the British company from Pfizer worth £50 ($84.47 U.S.) per share, or $106.4 billion U.S. Pfizer shares were inactive pre-market.
Chevron and CVS are among the companies reporting earnings before the bell.
The U.S. Labor Department's April jobs report came out this morning. Economists were predicting that the U.S. added 205,000 new jobs, bringing the unemployment rate down to 6.6% from 6.7% in March.
European markets were awaiting the U.S. jobs report and were mixed in morning trading. New data showed euro-zone unemployment remained steady at 11.8% in March, unchanged since December.
Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland were surging in London by roughly 12% after the bank reported better-than-expected results.
Asian stocks were up mostly, though Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was off 0.2%.
Oil prices took on 31 cents to $99.73 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $2.70 to $1,286.10 U.S. an ounce.
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