Equities in Toronto were set for a lower start on Thursday, a day after scoring its biggest points gain in 10 months, as oil prices slipped following a surge in U.S. crude inventories.
The S&P/TSX Composite leaped 200.44 points, or 1%, to close Wednesday at 15,599.68, breaking a string of five straight losing sessions. March futures were off 0.1% early Thursday
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.17 cents to 74.72 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Toronto-Dominion Bank reported quarterly earnings ahead of market expectations, helped by a strong performance in both the United States and Canada.
Canadian Natural Resources reported a quarterly profit that blew past analysts' expectations, driven by higher realized prices from North America and low costs.
CIBC raised the target price on GDI Integrated Facility Services to $19.00 from $17.00
Desjardins raised the price target on National Bank of Canada to $59.00 from $56.00 with a hold rating
National Bank starts coverage on Shopify Inc. with an outperform rating, and an $80.00 target price
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that our economy progressed 0.3% during December, as real gross domestic product rose 0.6% in the fourth quarter, following a 0.9% increase in the third quarter.
The agency goes on to say final domestic demand continued to decelerate, with ongoing weakness in business investment.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved into the green 4.84 points to 822.06
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mostly flat open on Thursday, after markets saw their highest volume day of 2017.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials acquired 25 points, or 0.1%, to 21,116. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.75 points to 2,392.75. NASDAQ futures gained 3.75 points, or 0.1%, at 5,389.75.
Stocks posted their best day of 2017 yesterday as the Trump trade rally regained momentum. Buoyed by President Donald Trump's speech on Tuesday, which promised tax reform and infrastructure investment, the indexes set fresh record highs.
Also, Snap priced its IPO at $17.00 U.S. a share, above the $14 to $16 U.S. range announced last month.
Ahead of the opening bell, JD.com reported quarterly results. AB Inbev also posted results, with fourth-quarter revenue of $14.2 billion U.S. and net profit at $400 million U.S.
After the bell, earnings reports from Costco, Autodesk, American Outdoor Brands and Wingstop are expected to hit the tape.
On the data front, investors will ponder the initial U.S. jobless claims data for the week ending February 25. Last week's reading increased 6,000 to 244,000.
European stocks traded flat Thursday after a good run on Wednesday, while the Nikkei 225 index in Japan leaped 0.9% Thursday.
Oil prices sifted off 77 cents to $53.06 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices faded $11.40 to $1,238.60 U.S. an ounce.
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