Futures for equities in Canada’s largest market rose on Tuesday to begin the New Year, aided by an increase in oil prices, with easing worries around the omicron coronavirus variant further lifting sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite declined 71.8 points to finish Friday to 21,222.84. Over a short week, the index fell 6.8 points, or 0.03%.
The year proved a different story, however, as the index gained nearly 3,800 points, or 21.7%.
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.49 cents to 78.47 cents U.S.
March futures vaulted 1.5% Tuesday.
A U.S. judge on Monday rejected BlackBerry’s bid to dismiss a long-running lawsuit claiming it defrauded shareholders by inflating the success and profitability of its BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and said the class-action case could go to trial this fall.
RBC raised the rating on Equitable Group to outperform from sector perform, and cut its target price to $88.00 from $91.00.
Ontario on Monday announced restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus as officials warned of a "tsunami" of new COVID-19 cases in the days and weeks ahead due to the omicron variant.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada said its industrial product price index increased 0.8% month over month in November and 18.1% year over year, while its raw materials price index The Raw Materials Price Index was down 1.0% on a monthly basis in November and up 36.2% year over year.
As well, Markit Canada was standing by with its manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for December (about 9:30 a.m. EST)
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.24 points Friday to 939.18, which gave it a gain of 4.2 points, or 0.45%, for the week. For 2021, the index prospered 63.8 points, or 7.3%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were higher in early morning trading on Tuesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 notched new record closes on the first trading day of 2022.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 154 points, or 0.4%, to 36,609.
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 17.75 points, or 0.4%, to 4,803.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ captured 39.5 points, or 0.2%, to 16,525.
Energy and economic recovery stocks were among the early gainers, despite omicron cases rising above one million Monday as the virus continues to storm across the country. Halliburton shares rose 2.1% in pre-market trading as crude prices rose and Morgan Stanley upgraded the oil services company.
Investors this week have been betting the economy could overcome the latest surge in COVID cases and riding momentum from what was a stellar 2021 for the markets.
Elsewhere, cruise operators continued their rebound, with shares of Carnival, Norwegian Cruise and Royal Caribbean gaining about 1%.
Casino and airline stocks were also higher. Wynn added 2% and Las Vegas Sands rose about 1%. United, Delta and American gained about 1% as part of the reopening trade.
Shares of Ford Motor rose more than 3% in early morning trading after it opened orders this week for its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, which it had previously shut down due to an overwhelming response. The company also announced plans to nearly double its production plan to 150,000 annually.
Under Armour shares gained 3.5% after Baird upgraded the stock, saying it would benefit from a cyclical recovery in earnings.
Apple shares were also up pre-market, rising another 0.4% a day after the company briefly became the first to achieve a $3-trillion market cap.
On Tuesday, the U.S. November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey will be released at 10 a.m. The JOLTS report is closely watched at the Federal Reserve and elsewhere for signs of labour market tightness.
December’s Institute for Supply Management manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index is also set to release Tuesday morning.
Overseas, markets in Japan leaped 1.8% Tuesday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong eked ahead 0.1%.
Oil prices gushed 74 cents to $76.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $2.70 to $1,802.80 U.S. an ounce.
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