Toronto's main stock index looked set to open higher on Friday, buoyed by rising commodity prices and reassuring measures to prevent the euro-zone's sovereign debt crisis from flaring.
On the economic calendar, Canada will release data on economic growth by industry, and a small increase is expected. Research in Motion will likely take centre stage after the BlackBerry maker posted its first loss in seven years and launched a strategic review.
Elsewhere, Maple Leaf Foods Inc. said it will open a facility in Puslinch, Ontario that will operate as the company's prepared meats distribution hub for central and eastern Canada.
Royal Bank of Canada, Canada’s biggest bank, is hiring aggressively it seeks to expand its business in Asia and Latin America as well as more established markets such as the United States and Britain, executives said on Thursday.
ON BAYSTREET
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost another 74.50 points Thursday, to 12,339.36.
The TSX Venture Exchange shaved off 0.49 points to 1,549.76, while the Nasdaq Canada index regained 1.96 points at 411.36
The Canadian dollar lost 0.11 cents this morning to 100.23 cents U.S.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were headed for a slightly higher open Friday, the final trading day of a strong quarter, as investors hope for some positive economic reports after a disappointing stretch of data.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 55 points about 45 minutes before Friday’s open, or 0.4%, to 13,133. Futures for the broader S&P 500 also jumped 0.4%, or 5.60 points, to 1,403.80, and for the tech-rich Nasdaq, futures zoomed 14.75 points, or 0.5%, to 2,773, all indicating an upward start to the market.
While worries about a growth slowdown have kept investors sidelined lately, it's been a stellar three months for stocks, with all three major U.S. indexes on track to log solid gains. The Dow is up almost 8%, the S&P 500 is up nearly 12% and the Nasdaq has gained a whopping 19% since New Year's Day.
Each index is within striking distance of milestone levels. The Nasdaq logged its best close since 2000 earlier this week and remains near that mark. In addition, the S&P 500 and Dow are close to setting fresh multi-year highs.
Economically speaking, a report released before the opening bell showed that personal spending in the U.S. increased 0.8% in February, topping analyst predictions of a 0.6% jump.
Meanwhile, personal income grew by 0.2%, less than the 0.3% predicted rate.
European stocks were higher in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 increased 0.6%, the DAX in Germany rose 1.1% and France's CAC 40 jumped 1.4%.
Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite added 0.5%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.3%.
Oil for May delivery added 55 cents to $103.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for April delivery rose $13.80 to $1,666 U.S. an ounce.
