Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday, as investors took in domestic inflation and retail sales data.
The S&P/TSX composite index triumphed 130.78 points to close Thursday’s session at 15,203.61, with June futures up 0.3% Friday morning.
The Canadian dollar was flat at 81.96 cents U.S. early Friday.
The largest group of shareholders in Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp says it’s "extremely disappointed" in a $6.50-per-share takeover bid from Alfa SAB de CV and Harbour Energy Ltd, and will vote against the deal.
BlackBerry Ltd said it plans to buy back 12 million shares, sending its stock up nearly 2% in extended trading in the United States on Thursday.
Hootsuite, a provider of software to manage social media on a global scale and one of Canada's most valuable tech startups, hinted on Thursday that it may move up its timeline on an initial public offering in light of the success of fellow Canadian startup Shopify.
Paradigm Capital raised the target price on ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. to $19.00 from $14.25; rating to buy from hold
Raymond James raised the target price on Canam Group Inc. to $18.00 from $16.00, with an outperform rating
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said retail trade rose for the second consecutive month in March, advancing 0.7% to $42.5 billion.
The agency adds, despite these increases, retail sales remained below their historical peak recorded in last November. Sales in March were up in seven of 11 sub-sectors, representing 71% of retail trade.
Elsewhere on the economic front, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.8% in the 12 months to April, after increasing 1.2% in March. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail inflation decreased 0.1% in April, following a 0.3% rise in March.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.09 points Thursday to 700.51
ON WALLSTREET
Traders are looking forward to the upcoming long weekend, which may mean a relatively quiet day in the markets. U.S. futures are holding steady.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials edged up 18 points, or 0.1%, to 18,276, futures for the S&P 500 took on one point to 2,129, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 6.5 points, or 0.1%, to 4,535.25
U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.
Campbell Soup, Foot Locker and Deere are reporting ahead of the open.
The U.S. government will provide an update about monthly consumer inflation this morning.
In Europe, stock markets are muddling along in early trading, with no clear direction. The FTSE 100 is moving up a bit, but most other indexes are declining.
Investors are watching as the top central banker in Europe -- Mario Draghi -- gives a speech in Portugal about inflation and unemployment. And Fed chair Janet Yellen is due to give a speech about inflation at 1 p.m. ET.
Nearly all Asian markets ended Friday with gains.
Chinese indexes closed out the week after a stunning rise. The Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen indexes are up a whopping 8.1% and 12%, respectively.
Oil prices subsided 57 cents to $60.15 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $8.60 to $1,212.70 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
