Canada's main stock index futures were slightly higher on Friday as investors digested the monthly jobs report.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index plummeted 146.44 points to finish Thursday at 15,396.70. June futures edged up 0.02% early Friday
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.06 cents to 72.77 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Air Canada reported a quarterly loss that was much smaller than expected, as it flew more passengers, offseting a sharp rise in fuel costs.
Husky Energy Inc on Friday posted a quarterly profit that edged past analysts' estimates, helped by higher oil prices.
Home Capital Group Inc named Alan Hibben to its board of directors, replacing Gerald Soloway, who has been accused by regulators of making "materially misleading statements" to investors.
RBC raised the rating on Bonavista Energy to outperform from sector perform
Barclays raised the rating on Empire Company to overweight from equal weight
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price Theratechnologies to $7.50 with a speculative buy rating
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported Friday morning that employment was little changed in April, while the unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage points to 6.5%, the lowest rate since October 2008.
The agency attributed the decrease mostly to fewer young people searching for work.
Later this morning, Western University’s IVEY School of Business is out with its Purchasing Managers Index for April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jettisoned 19.37 points, or 2.4%, Thursday to 774.07
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures indicated a mixed open on Friday as traders digested the release of a stronger-than-expected jobs report.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials erased 21 points, or 0.1%, to 20,850. Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 0.75 points to 2,386.25. NASDAQ futures eked up 1.5 points to 5,627.25
The U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs last month. Economists expected the U.S. economy to have added 185,000 jobs last month versus 98,000 in March.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% and the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%.
Among companies presenting earnings Friday, were E.W. Scripps Company, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, and VWR Corporation
In Europe, stocks were slightly lower on Friday morning.
On Sunday, French voters will head to the polls for the second round of their presidential election, with the independent centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron facing off against the far-right Marine Le Pen.
In Asia, the CSI 300 dipped 0.6%, while markets in Japan and Korea were still shut for national holidays.
Oil prices fell 52 cents to $45.00 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices climbed $2.50 to $1,231.50 U.S. an ounce.
