Futures for Canada's main stock index edged higher on Thursday, buoyed by an uptick in commodity prices, while investors were on the edge ahead of consumer inflation data out of the world's largest economy.
The TSX gained a healthy 126.19 points to conclude Wednesday at 20,025.05
Futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.3% Thursday morning.
The Canadian dollar picked up 0.05 cents to 74.50 cents U.S.
U.S.-listed shares of Organigram Holdings jumped 7.2% pre-market as the Cannabis producer forecast a higher revenue for 2023.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange soared 8.14 points, or 1.4%, Wednesday to 602.39.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were little changed Thursday as investors awaited a key inflation report to assess the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking campaign.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 44 points, or 0.1%, early Thursday to 34,154.
Futures for the S&P 500 poked ahead 4.75 points, or 0.1%, to 3,994.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite squeezed 1.75 points to 11,478.25.
All eyes are on December’s consumer price index reading with the consensus forecast calling for a slight easing in price pressures.
Economists expect the consumer price index to dip 0.1% for December but rise 6.5% year-over-year, compared to a 0.1% monthly gain in November and an annual pace of 7.1%, according to Dow Jones. The CPI is well off the 9.1% peak rate in June.
Excluding food and energy prices, economists expect the CPI for December will be 0.3% higher than the prior month and 5.7% higher than a year ago.
Jefferies upgraded Netflix to buy from hold, citing a potential increase in revenue as the streaming giant cracks down on password sharing. The stock gained 1.3% in pre-market trading.
American Airlines shares rose 3% in the premarket after the airline hiked its fourth-quarter earnings guidance. The company now expects earnings for the quarter to come in between $1.12 and $1.17 per share, up from a previous range of 50 cents to 70 cents.
Cleveland-Cliffs shares rose more than 2% in the premarket after Morgan Stanley upgraded the steel producer to overweight from equal-weight, citing a boost from higher fixed annual steel price contracts.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 eked up nearly four points, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 0.4%.
Oil prices moved up 98 cents to $78.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices progressed $12.70 to $1,891.60 U.S. an ounce.
