Futures for Canada's main stock index fell on Thursday, weighed by weaker gold prices as climbing U.S. Treasury yields and a firmer dollar dented demand for the precious metal.
The TSX surged 109.09 points to close Wednesday at 18,983.10
The Canadian dollar let go of 0.16 cents at 80.56 cents U.S.
March futures docked 0.2% Thursday.
National Bank of Canada cut the price target on IMV Inc. to $5.25 from $7.00
CIBC raised the price target on Information Services Corp. to $25.00 from $20.50
Citigroup raised the price target on Precision Drilling Corp. to $33.00 from $30.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said new home prices rose at their fastest pace since February 1989. New house prices were up in 22 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed during February, pushing the national index up 1.9% in February.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dumped 18.46 points, or 1.9%, Tuesday to 977.87.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 dipped early Thursday pressured by tech shares as a spike in bond fueled fears of equity valuations and caused investors to sell high flyers.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials inched up six points to 32,910.
Futures for the S&P slid 22.5 points, or 0.6%, to 3,941.
The NASDAQ Composite index tumbled 201.25 points, or 1.5%, to 12,987.75.
Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook all slid at least 1% in pre-market trading. Tesla slipped more than 2%.
The move in futures came as the 10-year Treasury yield jumped 10 basis points to 1.74%, its highest level since January 2020.
Investors will monitor the latest jobless claims data due Thursday morning. Economist polled by Dow Jones were expecting a total of 700,000 first-time unemployment-benefits filers in the week ending March 13, down from 712,000 in the week prior.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the central bank wants to see inflation consistently above its 2% target and material improvement in the U.S. labour market before considering changes to rates or its monthly bond purchases.
The Fed said it expects to see gross domestic product grow 6.5% in 2021 before cooling off in later years and inflation rise 2.2% this year as measured by personal consumption expenditures. The central bank’s stated goal is to keep inflation at 2% over the long run.
Overseas, In Japan, the Nikkei 225 catapulted 1% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng leaped 1.3%.
Oil prices fell 50 cents to $64.10 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $2.50 to $1,729.60 U.S.
