Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday as investors digested inflation and retail sales data.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended Thursday up 27.79 points, at 14,361.83. June futures were up 0.3% on Friday.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.02 cents at 88.95 cents U.S. early Friday
Osisko Mining released an updated mine plan for its flagship Malartic gold mine in Quebec and stressed that the $2.9-billion hostile bid from Goldcorp significantly undervalued its asset base.
Silver Wheaton reported a 47% fall in quarterly profit, due to a decline in metal prices, but forecast slightly higher production for the current year.
Bombardier provided an upbeat 2016 revenue forecast on Thursday despite its struggles to get its costly new Cseries jetliner into service.
Railway staff of Canadian National Railway narrowly voted against a strike-busting labour deal tentatively agreed upon by the company and union.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that consumer prices rose 1.1% in the 12 months to February, following a 1.5% increase in January. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail inflation rose 0.3% in February, following a 0.2% gain in January.
The agency also reported that retail sales rose 1.3% to $40.7 billion in January, partially offsetting a decline in December. Gains were reported in seven of 11 sub-sectors, representing 83% of total retail sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 3.61 points Thursday to 1,035.26
ON WALLSTREET
This week saw tweaks to U.S. Federal Reserve policy, rising tensions between the West and Russia and continued concerns about slowing growth in China.
But for the most part, markets kept pushing higher. As it stands now, the major U.S. indexes look set to close out the week with a healthy gain.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 45 points, or 0.3%, to 16,310. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 4.1 points, or 0.2%, to 1,870.20, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 9.5 points, or 0.3%, at 3,701.
Stocks could be volatile Friday as it's also the day when four futures and options contracts expire -- known as quadruple witching.
There's little U.S. economic or corporate news on the docket Friday. Before the bell, Tiffany reported full-year earnings and sales that fell short of forecasts.
Shares of Nike slid 3% after the company said earnings could be squeezed over the next few quarters.
Shares of Symantec plunged after the company fired its CEO
European markets were all rising in morning trading.
Asian markets mostly closed with gains. The main stock market indexes in Hong Kong and China pushed higher.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan was closed for the Vernal Equinox
Oil prices gathered 45 cents to $99.35 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices hiked $9.80 to $1,340.30 U.S. an ounce.
