Futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday, as investors pondered employment data.
The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 129.27 points to close Thursday at 15,124.92
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.06 cents to 80.46 cents U.S. early Friday.
Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce have looked at buying U.S. lender Boston Private Bank & Trust Co, the Wall Street Journal reported.
CIBC raised the target price on BCE Inc. to $58.00 from $50.00. CIBC raised the price target on Canfor Pulp Products to $20.00 from $17.50. Lastly, CIBC raised the target price on Firstservice Corp. to $73.00 from $62.00
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the job market benefiting from folks doing more part-time work. Employment increased by 35,000 in January, resulting in an unemployment rate declining 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%.
Moreover, the agency said, contractors took out building permits worth $7.1 billion in December, up 7.7% from November. This followed a 13.6% decline the previous month.
The agency said the December hike resulted mostly from greater construction plans in non-residential units in Alberta and British Columbia.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 7.26 points Thursday to 693.93
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are holding steady ahead of the open. Market direction for the day will depend on how the jobs figures are received. Major European markets are dipping in early trading.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 15 points, or 0.1%, to 17,799. Futures for the S&P 500 added 1.75 points, or 0.1%, to 2,056.75, and futures for the NASDAQ picked up 2.50 points, or 0.1%, to 4,250.
Shares in Statoil are rising by about 3% pre-market after the Norwegian oil giant maintained its dividend despite taking a hit from lower prices. The company -- like many other energy majors -- also said it would reduce investments by 10% this year and cut costs further.
Shares in Frontier were up in extended trading after it said it was buying Verizon landlines in three states for $15 billion U.S.
GoPro is diving by more than 10% pre-market. The camera maker's earnings easily beat Wall Street expectations, but investors were reported to be disappointed that the company's chief operating officer is leaving the firm.
Meanwhile, LinkedIn and Twitter shares are rising pre-market after reporting results Thursday.
Moody's is among the key companies reporting earnings before the opening bell.
Investors are digesting the first U.S. jobs report of 2015. January's employment report revealed that the economy added 257,000 jobs in January. The U.S. Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose to 5.7%, from 5.6%.
A CNNMoney survey of economists predicted non-farm payrolls would grow by 233,000 and the unemployment rate would decline to 5.5% from 5.6%.
Asian markets ended the week with mixed results. The Shanghai Composite index, which ran up by about 52% last year, dropped by nearly 2% Friday. The index has declined by about 5% since the start of 2015.
Oil prices took on 1.9% to $51.41 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices eked up 0.2% to $1,265.10 U.S. an ounce.
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