(INCLUDES MARKIT PMI INFORMATION)
Futures for equities in Canada’s largest market edged up on Monday, tracking strength in crude oil prices, while investors watched out for March manufacturing activity data due later in the day.
The TSX grabbed 174.13 points Friday to close out the week, month and quarter at 20, 115.18. On the week, the jump was 598 points, or 3.07%
June futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.3% Monday morning.
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.26 cents to 74.29 cents U.S.
Teck Resources Ltd on Monday rejected unsolicited acquisition proposal from Glencore Plc, stating rival's all-stock offer is inferior to its own planner separation. U.S.-listed shares of the Canadian miner rose more than 10%.
Among other stocks, Quebecor Inc was upgraded by Veritas Research to "buy" from "reduce", while Scotiabank resumed coverage of miner Pan American Silver Corp with "sector outperform".
On the economic front, the Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI for March registered 48.6, down noticeably from 52.4 in February. It was the lowest reading recorded by the index since June 2020 and represented a modest deterioration in operating conditions.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 3.19 points Friday to 633.20, for a gain on the week of 22 points, or 3.7%.
ON WALLSTREET
NASDAQ retreated Monday, as a new quarter kicked off Wall Street with a big jump in oil prices.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 110 points, or 0.3%, at 33,566.
Futures for the S&P 500 ditched six points, or 0.2%, to 4,131.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite subtracted 97.25 points, or 0.7%, to 13,204.25.
Oil prices surged 6% after an announcement of production cuts from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members. The move led to a 3% gain in Chevron.
Marathon Oil and Halliburton were the fund’s best performers, rising more than 6% each.
The moves in futures come as a new quarter of trading kicked off. All three major averages were positive in the first quarter, despite turmoil in the banking sector highlighted by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 7% in the first three months of the year for its second-straight positive quarter. The Dow industrials lagged but still managed to grind out an advance of 0.4%.
The first week of the new quarter is a shortened one for Wall Street, as trading will be closed for Good Friday. However, there will be several key pieces of economic data for investors, including job openings data on Tuesday, ADP private payrolls report on Wednesday and the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 moved higher 0.5% Monday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng grabbed nine points.
Oil prices picked up $4.89 to $80.56 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $6.40 to $1,992.60 U.S. an ounce.
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