Futures tracking Canada's resources-heavy main stock index rose on Thursday, helped by higher oil prices, while investors awaited more U.S. economic data for further clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike path.
The TSX closed 39.91 points higher Wednesday at 20,330.32.
September futures vaulted 0.5% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar inched higher 0.01 cents to 73.86 cents U.S.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce missed analysts' estimates for quarterly profit, hurt by higher loan-loss provisions.
Shopify said Amazon would release an app in Shopify's app ecosystem that would give U.S.-based merchants access to Amazon's "Buy with Prime" option.
Shares of the e-commerce firm gained 6.3% in premarket trading.
From Statistics Canada, the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employees" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 47,700 (+0.3%) in June.
The agency also says job vacancies remained on a downward trend, edging down by 8,900 (-1.2%) to 753,400 in June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.08 points Wednesday to 585.07.
ON WALLSTREET
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were higher Thursday after Wall Street notched its fourth straight day of gains.
Futures for the 30-stock index sprang up 192 points, or 0.6%, to 35,148.
Futures for the S&P 500 acquired 14 points, or 0.3%, to 4,538.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ grew 32 points, or 0.2%, to 15,533.25.
Traders also digested a Salesforce earnings beat. Shares advanced more than 5% in premarket trading after the software company announced fiscal second-quarter results and third-quarter guidance Wednesday that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Wholesale inflation increased 0.2% month-over-month in July and 4.2% year-over-year, matching estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. The personal consumption expenditures data is an inflation gauge closely watched by the Fed. Economists also forecast a year-over-year rise of 4.2% last month, up slightly from a 4.1% increase the previous month.
Investors are coming off a positive session, with the S&P 500 ending Wednesday 0.4% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 37.57 points, or 0.11%. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.54%. It was the fourth winning day in a row for the three major averages.
These gains helped the major indexes trim their monthly losses. The Dow and S&P 500 are each lower by more than 1% in August, while the NASDAQ is off by over 2%.
Investors digested weaker-than-expected payrolls data and annual gross domestic product growth forecast that nevertheless suggested the Federal Reserve could soon be done hiking rates, boosting equities.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index grew 0.9% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 0.6%
Oil prices surged 73 cents to $82.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices took on 80 cents to $1,973.80 U.S. an ounce.
