Futures for equities in Canada’s biggest market fell on Thursday, as investors braced for data to gauge the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country's job market, ahead of a long holiday weekend.
The TSX Composite Index vaulted 311.57 points, or 2.3%, Wednesday at 13,925.71.
The Canadian dollar ditched 0.13 cents early Thursday to 71.18 cents U.S.
June futures slipped 0.2% early Thursday.
Markets in North America will be closed Friday for Good Friday.
RBC cut the target price on Canadian Pacific Railway to $352.00 from $361.00
National Bank of Canada cut the target price Cogeco Communications to $109.00 from $115.00
Scotiabank cut the target price on Teck Resources to $21.00 from $26.00
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada said the economy lost 1,011,000 jobs in March, raising the unemployment rate 2.2 percentage points to 7.8%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 6.34 points, or 1.6%, Wednesday to 408.89.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures fell on Thursday as Wall Street digested the latest data on weekly U.S. jobless claims.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials sank 136 points, or 0.6%, early Thursday to 23,111.
Futures for the S&P 500 slid 24 points, or 0.9%, at 2,711.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite fell 58 points, on 0.7%, to 8,131.75.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 gained more than 3% on Wednesday. The NASDAQ jumped 2.6%. Wednesday’s rally put the S&P 500 and Dow up more than 10% each for the week, while the NASDAQ was up 9.7%.
After Wednesday’s rally, the Dow is up 29% from its low and the NASDAQ is down less than 10% this year.
It was another shocking figure out of the U.S. Labor Department, which reported 6.6 million filed last week for first-time unemployment claims.
Economists were expecting an increase of five million, which would build on the record-shattering prior two readings of 6.6 million and 3.3 million. Economists forecast that the unemployment rate will jump into the teens this month, from March’s 4.4% level and the 3.5% it was at in February.
The latest unemployment data will follow a surge in the stock market that took place on Wednesday. The rally was fueled in part by Sen. Bernie Sanders dropping out of the presidential race, as well as hopes that the coronavirus outbreak may soon turn a corner.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gave up 7.5 points Thursday, while Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 1.4%.
Oil prices gained 79 cents to $25.88 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $21.80 to $1,706.10 U.S. an ounce.
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