Futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday following a rise in oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index docked 75.29 points to close Thursday at 15,999.01
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.12 cents to 76.08 cents U.S. early Friday
Futures sprouted 0.4% Friday.
Ottawa is likely to announce that an extradition hearing against a Huawei Technologies executive can proceed, worsening already tense relations with Beijing.
Auto parts supplier Martinrea International reported record fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday that were in line with analyst expectations and announced "significant" new contracts dominated by demand for lightweight structures.
RBC raised the target price on Air Canada to $43.00 from $36.00
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Cardinal Energy to sector perform from outperform
Desjardins raised the target price on TFI International to $55.00 from $53.00
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product figures slowed to 0.1% in the fourth quarter, the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 3.19 points Thursday to 623.54
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a strong open on Friday, the first day of March, as Wall Street looked to build on its best start to a year in nearly 30 years.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average flew 175 points, or 0.7%, at 26,088.
Futures for the S&P 500 climbed 16.5 points, or 0.6%, to 2,801.25
NASDAQ futures vaulted 50.25 points, or 0.7%, to 7,152.75
The moves in the pre-market come a day after the major indexes posted solid monthly gains in February, pushing the S&P 500 to its best start to a year since 1991. The S&P 500 is up more than 11% for the year, along with the Dow. The NASDAQ Composite, meanwhile, is up 13.5%.
Foot Locker and Tribune Media are among the firms reporting earnings Friday.
Decreasing trade tensions between China and the U.S., along with a declining fears of tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, helped propel stocks higher to kick off 2019.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that U.S. officials are getting a final trade deal ready for President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign around mid-March.
Market participants are likely to closely monitor a fresh batch of economic data on Friday. Personal income, consumer spending and core PCE figures for December and January were to be released Friday morning.
Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, Institute for Supply Management manufacturing, and consumer sentiment data are all expected to follow later in the session.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 popped 1% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.6%.
Oil prices took on four cents to $57.26 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shed $7.70 to $1,308.40 U.S. an ounce.
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