Futures for Canada's main stock index rose slightly on Thursday as gold prices gained on deteriorating bilateral relations between the United States and China.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed the day up 8.1 points Wednesday to 16,171.06.
September futures were up 0.3% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.17 cents Thursday to 74.70 cents U.S.
Cenovus Energy posted a second-quarter loss and said the worst was behind the industry after the COVID-19 pandemic hammered global demand for crude oil and refined products.
Suncor Energy posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday, as oil prices tumbled on the back of a rapid decline in global
demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rogers Communications missed quarterly revenue and profit estimates on Wednesday, as coronavirus-led restrictions hurt demand for its wireless services while cancellation of sporting activities sparked a slump in ad sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.96 points Wednesday to 693.80.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes were slightly higher Thursday morning as investors awaited key economic data and parsed through a slew of corporate earnings.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials grew 68 points, or 0.3%, early Thursday, to 26,952.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 7.52 points, or 0.2%, at 3,272.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ picked up 6.25 points, or 0.6%, to 10,866.75.
The Dow is up 1.3%, the S&P is ahead 1.6% and NASDAQ has sprinted 1.9%, for the week.
Wall Street’s attention in pre-market trading was also on earnings announcements from several U.S. companies, but especially Microsoft and carmaker Tesla.
Despite better-than-expected figures, software giant Microsoft shares fell as much as 3% in after-hours trading. Though the company’s results were largely positive, Microsoft said its transactional license purchasing continued to slow and that subsidiary LinkedIn was negatively impacted by the weak job market.
Tesla, meanwhile, blew past analyst expectations and posted its fourth consecutive quarter of profit, opening the door for the company’s inclusion in the S&P 500. Excluding one-time charges, Tesla’s second-quarter earnings per share of $2.18 were well above the three cents per share expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.
Elon Musk’s automaker also said it’s set “for a successful second half” and reiterated its goal of delivering 500,000 vehicles this year.
The U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release its latest report on weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. The weekly figures provide Wall Street with critical insight on how many Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims.
U.S. stocks also rallied toward the end of the regular session on Wednesday after sources told the media that congressional Republicans are weighing an extension of watered-down federal unemployment benefits through the end of the year.
Overseas, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.8%, while markets in Japan were shuttered for holiday.
Oil prices ducked 21 cents to $41.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices improved $7.40 to $1,872.50.
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