Futures for Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday after hitting a record high in the previous session, as gold prices slipped due to a stronger dollar ahead of U.S. economic data.
The TSX wilted 4.86 points from Tuesday’s all-time record to close Wednesday at 19,971.15.
The Canadian dollar was down 0.17 Thursday at 82.88 cents U.S.
June futures slid 0.2% Thursday.
TD Securities raised the target price on Laurentian Bank of Canada to $49.00 from $44.00
Cormark Securities raised the target price on Scotiabank to $93.00 from $88.00.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said a multi-lateral agreement on the taxation of tech giants was "within reach" and it should go hand-in-hand with a deal on a global minimum corporate tax rate.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nicked up 1.5 points Wednesday to 973.54.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were lower Thursday morning as the S&P 500 continues to struggle to reach a new all-time high.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 248 points, or 0.7%, to 34,342.
Futures for the S&P 500 let go of 34.75 points, or 0.8%, to 4,171.50.
The benchmark S&P 500 sits less than 1% from its all-time high reached earlier last month, but it has been stuck around these levels for about the last two weeks. The S&P 500 is up 12% this year so far.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite staggered 147 points, or 1.1%, to 13,526.75.
Stocks that have run up in anticipation of the economy reopening this year were weak in early trading Thursday. Marriott, Carnival, Gap and GE were all slightly weaker in pre-market trading.
Most of the early market action centered on meme stock and theater chain AMC Entertainment. The stock was up as much as 20% in pre-market trading Thursday after practically doubling in the prior session. Reminiscent of what occurred earlier this year, retail traders rallying together on Reddit have triggered a short squeeze in the stock.
AMC later wiped out gains in premarket trading after the movie theater chain said it may offer and sell from time to time up to 11.55 million shares of its Class A common stock.
The meme stock bubble in GameStop earlier this year weighed on the market a bit as investors worried it meant too much speculative activity was in the stock market. As losses in hedge funds betting against the stock mounted, worries increased about a pullback in risk-taking across Wall Street that could hit the overall market.
AMC’s latest surge did not appear to be causing similar concerns so far, but that could change if the stock keeps going higher and triggers similar moves in other stocks.
ADP’s employment report and weekly jobless claims data are due later Thursday morning.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ditched 1.1%.
Oil prices lost 18 cents to $68.65 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $17.60 to $1,892.30 U.S.
