Futures pointed to a higher start for equities in Toronto on Thursday, tracking gains in global markets.
The S&P/TSX composite index strengthened 63.60 points to close trading Wednesday at 15,228.57
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 80.39 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday, helped by strong profit growth in its wholesale banking business.
Imperial Capital raised the price target on Absolute Software Corp. to $10.00 from $8.00, with an outperform rating
BMO raised the target price on Agrium Inc. to $120.00 from $110.00, with an outperform rating
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that Canada's annual inflation cooled to 1%in January, its lowest level since November 2013, with cheaper gasoline accounting for almost all of the yearly decline
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 7.43 points to 699.49.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were edging up Thursday, though the gains were small.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained eight points to 18,202. Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 1.75 points, or 0.1%, to 2,112, and futures for the NASDAQ crept up five points, or 0.1%, to 4,441.75.
Shares in Morgan Stanley could be on the move Thursday after it agreed to pay $2.6 billion U.S. settle a case over mortgage-backed securities. The bank said the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice -- reportedly its biggest legal bill from the financial crisis -- will hit earnings for 2014.
Shares in Standard Chartered were rising in London after the bank, which focuses on emerging markets, said former JPMorgan investment banker Bill Winters will take over as CEO. Meanwhile, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland are dipping after the firm reported another annual loss in 2014.
Kohl's, Taser and SeaWorld are among the companies reporting earnings before the opening bell.
J.C. Penney, Gap and Herbalife will report after the close.
On the economic side, the U.S. government reported on weekly jobless claims. It also updated the Consumer Price Index.
European markets are inching higher in early trading, while Asian markets mostly closed the day with small gains.
Oil prices dipped 1.9% to $50.00 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices took on 1.4% $1,217.70 U.S. an ounce.
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