Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for markets in Toronto on Friday after Chinese stocks recovered and oil prices retreated from multi-year lows.
The S&P/TSX composite index hurtled lower 278.59 points, or 2.2%, to close Thursday at 12,448.21, more than 20% below the September 2014 record of 15,657.63.
March futures regained 0.5% Friday morning.
The index has fallen seven consecutive days, the longest losing streak since November.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.1 cents to 70.94 cents U.S. early Friday.
TransCanada Corp faces a rocky legal path as it seeks to overturn U.S. President Barack Obama's denial of its Keystone XL pipeline or at least recoup some of its lost investment in the multi-billion-dollar project.
BMO cut the target price on Jean Coutu Group to $19.00 from $20.0, with a market perform rating
JP Morgan cut the target price on Precision Drilling Corp. to $5.00 from $6.00 with a neutral rating.
CIBC raised the rating on Silver Wheaton Corp. to outperform from sector performer
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the economy added 23,000 jobs in December, keeping the unemployment rate at 7.1%.
Also, the agency reported that building permits was down 19.6% from October to $6.2 billion in November, falling below the $7-billion mark for first time since May 2015.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 6.62 points, or 1.3%, Thursday to 513.75
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are higher, adding around 1%. And oil prices are also firmer.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 152 points, or 0.9%, to 16,571, futures for the S&P 500 jumped 18.5 points, or 1%, to 1,951.5. NASDAQ futures zoomed 49.75 points, or 1.2%, to 4,339.
NVIDIA Corp is rallying 3.3% pre-market, after the technology company said it is partnering with Volvo to develop a smart car.
Netflix is 1.3% higher in pre-market trading. The video streaming service announced a global push for new customers this week.
Other stocks that are rising in pre-market trading include Amazon, Facebook and ConocoPhilips, which is climbing 2.5%.
December's jobs report revealed that the U.S. economy was stronger by 292,000 jobs, keeping the unemployment rate at 5%.
European markets are climbing higher in early trading. The FTSE 100 is 1% up, while Germany's DAX is 0.7% higher. Asian markets ended the session mostly higher.
Chinese markets closed higher after a choppy day of trading on Friday. The Shanghai Composite closed 2% up, while the Shenzhen Composite added 1.1%.
Oil prices gained 43 cents to $33.70 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dipped $12.16 to $1,096.81 U.S. an ounce.
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