Canadian stock futures tracked an upbeat mood in global markets on Thursday, boosted by hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant might be less severe than feared, with stronger commodity prices underpinning sentiment further.
The S&P/TSX Composite spiked 145.18 points, to end Wednesday at 21,070.05.
The Canadian dollar added 0.17 cents to 77.98 cents U.S.
March futures gained 0.3% Thursday.
Gold producer Agnico Eagle Mines said on Wednesday it is sending workers from three of its Canadian operations back home for at least three weeks amid rising cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
CIBC cut the target price on Blackberry to $9.00 from $10.00
TD Securities cut the rating on Cascades Inc. to hold from buy.
In things economic, Statistics Canada’s Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours as payroll employment rose by 131,700 (+0.8%) in October, bringing it to within 0.6 percentage points of its pre-pandemic February 2020 level.
Meanwhile, Gross Domestic Product rose 0.8% in October on broad-based increases across sectors.
Moreover, Canada will temporarily expand support programs to help people and businesses hit by the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Ottawa said on Wednesday, warning people that worse was yet to come as the virus spreads.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved upward 6.71 points Wednesday to 916.17.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures pointed to a third day of gains as investors looked past earlier jitters about the spread of the omicron COVID variant.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials sprang up 114 points, or 0.3%, to 35,746.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 14 points, or 0.3%, to 4,700.
Futures for the NASDAQ improved 35.25 points, or 0.2%, to 16,205.
Reopening plays were in the green in the pre-market, including Las Vegas Sans, Wynn Resorts and Carnival. Airline shares were also in the green.
Helping boost sentiment were new studies suggesting that omicron has a lower risk of hospitalization than other COVID variants.
Still, trading was relatively thin and is expected to continue to be so heading into the Christmas holiday.
On Wednesday the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid pill, the first oral antiviral drug against the virus. The drugmaker’s shares gained about 1%.
Investors will get some key inflation data on Thursday, including prices for core personal consumption expenditures. Consumer sentiment numbers and jobless claims will also be released.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 moved higher 0.8% Thursday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.4%.
Oil prices grew 44 cents to $73.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $4.30 to $1,806.50 U.S. an ounce.
