Futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Thursday, as investors assessed a slew of corporate earnings including Bombardier, Cenovus Energy and Encana Corp.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened 111.8 points to wind up business on Wednesday at 15,328.27
The Canadian dollar faded 0.04 cents to 80.07 cents U.S. Thursday morning.
March futures poked up 0.2% Thursday.
Bombardier on Thursday beat quarterly profit estimates, driven by an improvement in both sales and margins in its rail division.
Encana posted better-than-expected adjusted profit for the fourth quarter, helped by an increase in production and higher selling prices for oil.
Cenovus's fourth-quarter profit soared, as production nearly doubled and the Canadian company reined in expenses.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price Maple Leaf Foods to $39.00 from $38.00
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Teck Resources to $42.50 from $41.00
RBC raised the target price on TMX Group to $81.00 from $80.00
On matters economic, Statistics Canada reported that in December, 500,100 people received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, down 1.1% from November.
The agency adds the number of EI recipients has been on a downward trend since October 2016.
Also the Canadian Real Estate Association revealed national home sales via Canadian MLS® Systems dropped sharply in January after having climbed to the highest monthly level on record in December.
CREA said actual (not seasonally-adjusted) activity was down 2.4% from January 2017 and stood close the 10-year average for the month of January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange popped 14.99 points, or 1.8%, Wednesday to 836.17
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures posted sharp gains ahead of Thursday's open, extending a rally seen in previous sessions. Stocks were poised to open higher despite further gains in Treasury yields
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials skyrocketed 182 points, or 0.7%, to 25,049
S&P 500 futures took on 12.5 points, or 0.5%, to 2,709.50 while futures on the NASDAQ Composite added 33 points, or 0.5%, at 6,720.
Waste Management is among the major firms reporting earnings Thursday.
On the data front Thursday, jobless claims, price producer index data, the Empire State manufacturing survey and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey were all scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
After that, industrial production is due out at 9:15 a.m. ET, followed by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index at 10 a.m. ET. The Treasury International Capital data will then come in at 4 p.m. ET.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 1.5%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index popped 2% ahead of the Lunar New Year
Oil prices faded 12 cents to $60.48 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices gained three dollars to $1,355.00 U.S. an ounce.
