Stock futures pointed to a lower start for equity markets in Toronto on Friday as weak data from Europe hurt investor sentiment, setting up shares worldwide for a lower end to the first trading week of the year.
The S&P/TSX composite index leaped 172.72 points, or 1.2%, to finish Thursday at 14,457.72, with Friday futures off 0.5%.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.09 cents to 84.63 cents U.S. early Friday.
The U.S. Navy added on Thursday CGI Federal Inc and DRS Technologies Inc, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica SpA, to an umbrella contract valued at up to $2.5 billion to update the electronic networks on its ships.
RBC raised the price target on CGI Group to $53.00 from $47.00, with an outperform rating.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on Air Canada to $15.00 from $12.00
Dundee cut the rating on New Gold Inc. to neutral from buy
Dundee cut the rating on Thompson Creek Metals to neutral from buy
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the economy lost 4,300 jobs in December as gains in full-time work were offset by losses in part time. The unemployment rate remained at 6.6%.
The agency also said building permits were issued worth $6.6 billion in November, down 13.8% from October, following two consecutive monthly increases.
StatsCan attributes the drop to widespread declines in both the non-residential and residential sectors in several provinces.
Housing starts were also due for release from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Friday morning.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.83 points Thursday to 687.48
ON WALLSTREET
It's the biggest data day of the month for markets: the latest U.S. jobs report is published Friday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 52 points, or 0.3%, however, to 17,768. Futures for the S&P 500 were off 5.75 points, or 0.3%, to 2,049.25, and futures for the NASDAQ were the less by 5.5 points, or 0.1%, to 4,226.75.
The U.S. Labor Department revealed that the U.S. economy created 252,000 jobs in December, making 2014 the best year for job creation since 1999. The unemployment rate stateside fell to 5.6%.
Economists expected a rise of 236,000 jobs over the month, with the jobless rate falling to 5.7%.
European markets are also treading water in early trading. Asian markets mostly ended with small gains.
Germany and France, the euro-zone's two biggest economies, reported a drop in industrial production in November. That follows an initial reading of euro-zone December inflation earlier this week that showed consumer prices fell.
In China, the latest inflation data is reportedly near a five-year low, rising by just 1.5% in December 2014 compared to the same time a year ago.
Oil prices dipped 14 cents to $48.65 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $2.70 to $1,211.20 U.S. an ounce.
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