An employment report could put some oomph into the stock market today, as unemployment in this country hit a six-year low.
The S&P/TSX composite index nosed ahead 15.12 points to conclude Thursday at 14,563.38
The Canadian dollar fell 0.04 cents to 87.51 cents U.S. early Friday.
TMX Group Ltd, the operator of Canada's biggest stock exchange, reported weaker-than-expected quarterly profit, hurt by lower trading revenue from its BOX options exchange and cash markets.
Pipeline company Veresen Inc is talking to Japanese buyers for offtake from its Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas facility in Oregon and expects to make a final investment decision for the project by the middle of next year.
IGM Financial Inc, one of Canada's top mutual fund companies, reported higher third-quarter earnings on Thursday that met expectations, and increased its quarterly dividend.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that jobs in Canada increased 43,000 in October, weighing the unemployment rate down 0.3 percentage points to 6.5%, the lowest rate since November 2008.
The agency was expected to report that the economy lost 5,000 jobs in October, pulling back from the surge in hiring seen in September, while the unemployment rate was forecast to hold steady at 6.8%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 4.43 points Thursday to 751.54.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures were tentatively higher in New York Friday, as tepid jobs numbers provided little comfort.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained seven points to 17,511. Futures for the S&P 500 were unchanged at 2,028, and futures for the NASDAQ added 8.50 points, or 0.2%, to 4,171.25.
Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company run by famed billionaire Warren Buffett, is slated to report quarterly results after the close of trading.
Berkshire has suffered some losses recently on its stakes in Coca-Cola, IBM and British grocery chain Tesco
Shares in Disney were falling by about 2% pre-market after the firm reported fourth quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations.
Much of Disney's success came from Marvel's summer standout "Guardians of the Galaxy" and its "Sleeping Beauty" redux "Maleficent."
Shares in Allianz were surging by 5% in Germany after the company posted upbeat quarterly results and announced a dividend hike. Revenue and profits rose in the third quarter, despite problems at its asset management arm, which includes Pimco.
Investors pulled 49.2 billion euros ($61 billion U.S.) out of Pimco funds in the quarter, mostly after the founder, Bill Gross, made his abrupt departure from the company.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics declared that the economy created 214,000 jobs last month, dropping the unemployment rate one-10th of a percentage point to 5.8%. Economists had projected that 233,000 jobs were created in October, and the jobless level would remain at 5.9%.
European markets are mostly rising in early trading. Asian markets ended the week with mixed results.
Oil prices gained 71 cents to $78.62 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices tacked on 80 cents to $1,143.50 U.S. an ounce.
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