Stock futures pointed to a higher opening ahead of Canada Day for the country’s main stock index on Friday, as traders digested monthly gross domestic product data.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slogged lower 142.16 points to close Thursday at 15,213.42. September futures jumped 0.2% early Friday.
The Canadian dollar gained 17 cents to 77.11 U.S. early Friday.
BMO raised the price target on Empire Company to $25.00 from $19.00
TD Securities cut the target price on Husky Energy to $18.00 from $19.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the economy continued to advance in April, with gross domestic product up 0.2%, following a 0.5% gain in March.
StatsCan says 14 of 20 sectors moved forward.
The agency’s industrial product price index declined 0.2% in May, mainly due to lower prices for energy and petroleum products.
The Raw Materials Price Index fell 1.8%, primarily due to lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 7.1 points Thursday to 762.40
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday after a sharp sell-off led by technology stocks.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials regained 41 points, or 0.2%, to 21,296. Futures for the S&P 500 added 4.5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,424.50. NASDAQ futures jumped 11.25 points, or 0.2%, to 5,664.25
With Friday marking the last trading day for the quarter, this is usually seen as a time when investors re-position their portfolios or take profits.
Tech has been the best-performing sector for most of 2017, rising more than 15% in the period. But over the past month it has dropped more than 2%.
Investors also looked to more data releases, with personal income and outlays data due out, followed by Chicago PMI. Consumer sentiment is also slated to come out Friday morning. No major earnings or bond auctions are scheduled.
European markets were mostly higher as of noon on the continent, while in Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Japan regained 0.5%, while Shanghai’s CSI 300 recovered 0.6%
Oil prices gained 26 cents to $45.19 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices folded $2.40 to $1,244.00 U.S. an ounce.
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