(CONTAINS U.S. JOBLESS RATE )
Futures for Canada's main stock index were subdued on Friday in the run-up to a key U.S. jobs report that could dictate the path of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
The S&P/TSX Composite captured 33.08 points to conclude Thursday at 21,072.74.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.06 cents to 78.62 cents U.S.
March futures were unchanged Friday.
Cameco Corp said on Thursday it could resume production of roughly 24 million pounds of uranium annually in North America if needed by the global market due to the political turmoil in Kazakhstan.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC said on Thursday it has signed agreements with the federal government to supply 20,000 more doses of its COVID-19 drug, as the country battles a surge in infections driven by the omicron variant.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price Agnico Eagle Mines to $81.00 from $80.00
JP Morgan cut the rating on Emera to underweight from neutral.
ATB Capital Markets initiated coverage on Freehold Royalties with outperform rating
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada said the economy created 55,000 jobs in December, not enough, though, to disturb the unemployment rate in this country from its current perch of 5.9%.
Later this morning (around 10 a.m. EST) Western University’s IVEY School of Business puts out its monthly Purchasing Managers Index for December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 13.02 points Thursday, or 1.4%, to 911.41.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher during early morning trading on Friday, as investors digested a key jobs report release that will provide some clues on the state of the economy and could influence policy.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials docked 13 points to 36,110.
Futures for the S&P 500 nicked higher four points, or 0.1%, to 4,691.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ picked up 21.25 points, or 0.1%, to 15,780. The tech-heavy NASDAQ is on track for its worst week since February 2021 as investors rotate out of growth and into value names.
The U.S. economy increased the workforce by only 199,000 jobs during December, less than half the expected 422,000.
The stateside unemployment rate, however, sank to 3.9%, having been forecast to come in at 4.1%. One key caveat is the survey week for the report includes the 12th of the month, so it is unlikely to full convey the impact the latest COVID-19 variant is having on hiring.
In early trading Friday, GameStop shares soared more than 15% pre-market following news that the company is venturing into the crypto world with investments in a marketplace for nonfungible tokens and digital currency partnerships to create games and other items.
Elsewhere, shares of Starbucks fell about 3% after both RBC and Oppenheimer downgraded the coffee giant on the notion that the stock may have peaked in the near term and will struggle to grow profits ahead.
Also, Discovery’s stock rose 3.8% after Bank of America upgraded the company, saying that it should gain as benefits with Warner Media become clearer.
Overseas, Japan the Nikkei 225 dipped more than eight points Friday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong sprinted 1.8%.
Oil prices picked up 50 cents to $79.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid 70 cents to $1,789.20 U.S. an ounce.
