Futures for stocks in Canada’s largest market fell on Friday after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, intensifying concerns on its potential economic impact.
The TSX Composite Index came off its lows of Thursday, remaining 21.29 points below Wednesday’s close to conclude the session at 17,490.56
The Canadian dollar removed 0.09 cents early Friday to 75.58 cents U.S.
March futures settled 0.4% early Friday.
Cott Corp said on Friday it would sell its S&D Coffee and Tea business to privately owned Westrock Coffee Co for $405 million in cash, as it looks to focus on its more profitable water business.
RBC raised the target price on CAE Inc. to $41.00 from $39.00
Scotiabank raised the target price on Exco Technologies to $8.50 from $8.00
CIBC raised the target price on Intact Financial to $145.00 from $141.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada’s industrial product price The Industrial Product Price Index edged up 0.1% in December, driven primarily by higher prices for primary non-ferrous metal products.
The agency’s raw materials price index hiked 2.8%, mainly due to higher prices for crude energy products.
Moreover, November’s Gross Domestic Product edged up 0.1% in November, offsetting most of the decline in October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.33 points Thursday to 575.16.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures traded lower Friday as traders try to assess the potential economic impact of China’s fast-spreading coronavirus while digesting earnings from Caterpillar and Amazon.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials backed off 126 points, or 0.4%, early Friday to 28,665.
Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 14.75 points, or 0.5%, at 3,275.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite deleted 35.25 points, or 0.4%, to 9,181.
In corporate news, Caterpillar shares fell more than 1% in the pre-market after the industrial giant’s CEO warned about "global economic uncertainty" in the company’s latest quarterly earnings report. Those losses were mitigated, however, by a 10% surge in Amazon shares.
Amazon posted a quarterly profit and revenue that easily beat analyst expectations. Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud business, saw stronger-than-expected revenues.
On the data front, personal income for December, consumer spending for December and core personal consumption expenditures for December will all be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for January and a final reading of consumer sentiment for January will follow slightly later in the session.
China’s National Health Commission confirmed on Friday that there have been 9,692 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 213 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the deadly pneumonia-like virus as a global health emergency on Thursday, citing concern that the outbreak continues to spread to other countries with weaker health systems.
WHO’s designation was made to help the United Nations health agency mobilize financial and political support to contain the outbreak.
The virus, which was first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has now spread to at least 18 other countries and has dampened sentiment over global economic growth.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 1% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng let go of 0.5%
Oil prices gained 37 cents to $52.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $5.40 to $1,585.20 U.S. an ounce.
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