Canadian stocks looked set to extend the previous session's losses on Friday as investors kept a wary eye on the Ukraine crisis.
The S&P/TSX composite index took a header of 110.37 points to conclude Thursday at 14,546.03.
The Canadian dollar was fairly flat at 92.34 cents U.S. early Friday.
TMX Group Ltd, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, reported a 23% in first-quarter profit as a recovery in trading activity picked up speed.
Canadian Natural Resources said on Thursday its first-quarter profit rose nearly three-fold on higher oil and natural gas prices as it boosted capital spending to develop newly acquired properties.
Mining financier Silver Wheaton Corp reported a 40% drop in profit for the first quarter, hurt by fall in metal prices.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that employment decreased by 29,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.9% as the number of people taking part in the labour market edged down. The nation’s crunchers added that there’s been little overall employment growth in Canada since August 2013.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faltered 9.05 points Thursday to 991.99
ON WALLSTREET
Investors seem uninspired Friday, with most markets around the world dipping into the red.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dipped 21 points, or 0.1%, to 16,489. Futures for the S&P 500 backtracked 3.8 points, or 0.2%, at 1,868.50, and futures for the NASDAQ faded 12.50 points, or 0.4%, to 3,525.
Shares in Apple are declining by roughly 0.5% pre-market after reports that the company was considering a $3.2-billion U.S. takeover of Beats Electronics, a headphone maker and streaming music provider.
The reported move surprised Apple investors since the company is not known for splashy acquisitions.
In earnings news, Hilton Worldwide reported that quarterly net income more than tripled compared to the year-earlier quarter. The hotelier also raised its outlook for the year and said that it was building new hotels.
Stratasys, a 3D printing company, reported quarterly net income compared to a loss the year before.
Polo Ralph Lauren is also set to report before the opening bell.
European markets were dipping down in midday trading with most of the key indexes off by roughly 0.4%.
Asian markets ended with mixed results, though Tokyo and Hong Kong markets rose marginally.
Oil prices climbed 42 cents to $100.68 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $5.50 to $1,293.20 U.S. an ounce.
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