Futures for Canada's TSX were tepid on Friday as investors awaited domestic employment data for December for further clues on the strength of the labour market as well as the Bank of Canada's monetary policy trajectory.
The TSX dropped 81.99 points to close Thursday at 19,506.84.
Futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.03% Friday morning.
The Canadian dollar nicked ahead 0.02 cents to 73.87 cents U.S.
In company news, a U.S. judge said she will rule in a few months if former President Donald Trump erred in 2021 when he approved Lithium Americas Corp's Thacker Pass lithium mining project in northern Nevada.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported employment rose by 104,000 (+0.5%) in December, and the unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 5.0%, just above the record low of 4.9% reached in June and July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.94 points Thursday to 571.12.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were little changed Friday as investors looked ahead to the December jobs report release. Strong jobs data in the previous session led to declines in the major averages as it pointed to further rate hikes ahead.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 317 points, or 1%, early Friday to 33,384.
Futures for the S&P 500 gathered 34 points, or 0.9%, to 3,867.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite grabbed 81 points, or 0.8%, to 10.901.25.
Stocks are headed for losses in the first trading week of 2023. As of Thursday’s close, the Dow is down 0.66% week to date, headed for its fourth down week in five. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is down 0.8% and the NASDAQ has retreated 1.5%, on pace for their fifth straight week of losses.
The Dow on Thursday fell more than 300 points Thursday after the release of a stronger-than-expected ADP private payrolls report. This raised concern for higher Federal Reserve rates, which in turn stoked fears that the U.S. could fall into a recession soon.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index declined 0.3%.
Oil prices hiked $1.70 to $75.37 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on $10.70 to $1,851.30 U.S. an ounce.
