Canadian stocks looked set to open higher on Friday as investors awaited the country's key jobs report.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 100.71 points to close at 15,114.48, with futures up 0.05%.
The Canadian dollar picks up 0.07 cents to 93.97 cents U.S. early Friday
Worries about soft growth will keep the Bank of Canada from hiking interest rates until late next year, although rising prices are expected to make it temper concerns about low inflation in its policy statement next week. That word from a recent Reuters poll.
The union representing about 1,000 workers at a Bombardier Inc railcar production facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario threatened to strike on Monday if the parties fail to come to an agreement.
Inter Pipeline Ltd, which operates regional pipeline systems in Western Canada, said on Thursday it planned a $100-million expansion of its oil lines in Saskatchewan to add capacity of 95,000 barrels per day.
CIBC raised the price target on Fortuna Silver Mines shares to $6.50 from $5.00, with a sector perform rating
On the economic beat, jobs were the focus Statistics Canada reported this morning that employment numbers were little changed in June and the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 7.1% as more people were searching for work.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slumped 9.68 points Thursday to 1,022.95
ON WALLSTREET
Markets appear to have stepped back from the brink after hair-raising events in Europe cast a pall over Wall Street.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 25 points, or 0.2%, to 16,867. Futures for the S&P 500 took on 3.25 points, or 0.2%, to 1,961, and futures for the NASDAQ picked up 11.5 points, or 0.3%, to 3,885.25
Wells Fargo will report earnings before the opening bell, giving investors some insight into the health of the banking sector.
Major European exchanges were all higher in early trading on Friday, bouncing back after worries over a Portuguese bank eased.
Shares in Banco Espirito Santo were suspended on Thursday, but not before they slumped 17%, taking losses for the year to 46%. Banco Esperito resumed trading Friday and said it has sufficient capital to cover any losses.
Asian markets were all over the place on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 0.3%, the Hang Seng was flat and the Shanghai Composite added 0.4%
Oil prices docked 41 cents to $102.52 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slipped 80 cents to $1,338.40 U.S. an ounce.
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