Equity markets in Toronto looked set to open higher on Friday, supported by higher commodity markets and the U.S. Federal Reserve's assurances about its plans for stimulus withdrawal.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 60.08 points to end Thursday’s session at 12,628.85, with futures up 0.1% Friday.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.03 cents to 96.33 cents U.S. early Friday
TransCanada Corp. CEO Russ Girling said Thursday it expects to announce potential interest in using its proposed Energy East crude oil pipeline project in the next couple of weeks.
The pipeline would funnel crude oil from western receipt points to delivery points in the Montréal and Québec City, Quebec, and Saint John, New Brunswick, areas.
BMO raised the rating on BlackBerry to market perform from underperform, believing enterprises may start to increase deployments of BB10 now that an updated version of BES 10 is out.
Raymond James cut the price target on Eldorado Gold to $11 from $14, saying the company's investment case remains appealing to investors in today's marketplace given its low cost and well-capitalized position.
The Group of 20 nations backed a tax plan that takes aim at the loopholes used by multinational firms and responds to anger among voters hit with higher tax bills to cover soaring national debts.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.2% in the 12 months to June, following a 0.7% increase in May. This 0.5-percentage-point gain in the CPI was led by transportation prices, which rose 2.0% on a year-over-year basis in June after falling 0.5% in May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was positive 3.75 points Thursday to 914.57
ON WALLSTREET
Investors around the world were taking a step back early Friday following worse-than-expected quarterly results from Google and Microsoft.
Futures for the Dow Industrials dipped 11 points, or 0.1%, to 15,470. Futures for the S&P 500 eked up 0.2 points to 1,680.80, and futures for the NASDAQ fell two points, or 0.1%, to 3,045.50
Google and Microsoft reported disappointing quarterly numbers, sending their shares sharply lower in pre-market trading and souring the broader market mood after another record close. Microsoft was hit by a big write-down on its Surface tablet.
Earnings season marches on Friday.
Shares of General Electric rose after the conglomerate reported earnings and sales roughly in line with estimates, and said it saw strong growth in U.S. orders.
Schlumberger's stock rose after the energy company reported a bump in sales and profit, driven by drilling successes on land and deep water.
Whirlpool raised its guidance for the year as the appliance maker reported a significant gain in quarterly sales and profit.
Honeywell reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its outlook for the year.
In international markets, European indexes lost ground in morning trading.
Asian markets also had a damp trading session overall. China's Shanghai Composite index dipped and Japan's Nikkei 225 each pulled back by 1.5%. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index managed to edge up by 0.1%
Oil prices added 46 cents to $108.50 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $5.90 to $1,290.10 U.S. an ounce.
