Futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday as oil prices dipped due to higher output from top exporter Saudi Arabia and under pressure from a trade war between the United States and China.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index descended 38.11 points to finish Thursday at 16,266.61
The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 76.14 cents U.S. early Friday
September futures fell back 0.4% Friday
WestJet Airlines on Thursday named industry veteran Charles Duncan as its chief strategy officer, effective Aug. 1.
Eight Capital raised the price target on Canopy Growth to $50.00 from $40.00
TD Securities cut the price target on CI Financial to $25.00 from $27.00
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada says the economy created 32,000 jobs in June, after two consecutive months of little change.
With more people searching for work, the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.0%.
Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world totaled $2.8 billion in May, widening from a $1.9-billion deficit in April. Imports rose 1.7% while exports edged down 0.1%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 3.16 points to 741.91
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to slight gains at the open on Friday following a stronger-than-expected jobs report.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials moved higher 16 points, or 0.1%, to 24,359
S&P 500 futures moved higher three points, or 0.1%, to 2,741.50, while futures for the NASDAQ composite regrouped 17.25 points, or 0.2%, to 7,143
U.S. tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods came into effect earlier on Friday. China responded to the fresh tariffs by imposing its own retaliatory levies on imports from the States.
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce stated Friday that while Beijing had refused to “fire the first shot,” it was obligated to counter the U.S.’ actions after Washington “launched the largest trade war in economic history.”
Trade-war fears have been simmering for months, keeping market gains in check as investors fret over the impact of tariffs on corporate profits.
Shares of Boeing, Caterpillar and General Motors, companies sensitive to trade tensions because of their overseas revenue exposure, traded lower in the pre-market.
Investors also digested the latest non-farm payrolls data. The U.S. economy added 213,000 jobs in June, while economists expected a gain of 195,000. Unemployment, however, rose slightly to 4% from 3.8%.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.1%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index grew 0.5%
Oil prices slid 60 cents to $72.34 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stumbled $2.40 to $1,256.40 U.S. an ounce.
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