Futures for equities in Canada’s largest centre rose on Thursday, as oil gained strength on output shutdowns in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Delta, coupled with hopes for some U.S. coronavirus relief aid.
The TSX popped 192.17 points, or 1.2%, to conclude Wednesday at 16,428.30.
The Canadian dollar poked ahead 0.07 cents early Thursday to 75.48 cents U.S.
December futures picked up 0.2% Thursday.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Badger Daylighting to $45.00 from $40.00
ATB Capital raised the rating on Precision Drilling to outperform from sector perform.
Jefferies raised the price target on Spin Master to $34.00 from $33.00
On the economic docket, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said housing starts totalled 214,647 units in September, up from 212,609 units in August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 2.97 points Wednesday to 708.06.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures were modestly higher in Thursday early morning trading after the Dow Jones Industrials on Wednesday posted its best day in months as investors await updates on the ongoing fiscal stimulus discussions.
Futures for the 30-stock index rocketed 242 points, or 0.9%, to 28.421.
Futures for the S&P 500 acquired 20.75 points, or 0.6%, at 3,427.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite piled on 100 points, or 0.9%, to 11,570.
Shares of United, American and Delta airlines were all up more than 3% in pre-market trading Thursday.
Investors are also digesting Thursday’s initial jobless claims number. The U.S. Labor Department reported claims amounted to 840,000. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected first-time claims for unemployment insurance to total 825,000 for the week ending Oct. 3. This would mark a slowdown from the 837,000 first time claims for the previous week.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 1% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index retreated 0.2%.
Oil prices gained 84 cents to $40.79 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $8.30 at $1,899.10.
