The Canadian stock market looked set to start the week lower after hitting a near six-year high on Friday, with June futures on the S&P TSX index down 0.05%
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 38.72 points to end the day and week at 14,838.90
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.09 cents at 91.59 cents U.S. early Monday.
The index reached its highest level in almost six years on Friday as investors cheered a bullish U.S. jobs report and shrugged off sluggish Canadian labour data. Energy and bank shares drove the gains.
On matters economic, Canadian housing starts picked up more than expected in May and the number for April was revised higher.
A report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp showed the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 198,324 in May from an upwardly revised 196,687 units in April. That surpassed analysts’ expectations for a May reading of 185,000.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange pulled ahead 1.53 points Friday to 987.45
ON WALLSTREET
Markets are likely to be relatively quiet Monday after hitting new records last week, but individual stocks could garner some attention.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faded 10 points to 16,922. Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 2.2 points, or 0.1%, to 1,947.10, and futures for the NASDAQ slipped two points, or 0.1%, to 3,796.
Apple's seven-for-one stock split goes into effect Monday. The tech giant is issuing more shares to existing investors in order to bring down the price of the stock. Apple stock closed at about $646 U.S. Friday, but it will be under $100 U.S. when it opens.
Shares of Hillshire Brands jumped 5% after Tyson Foods raised its bid for the maker of brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm. Both Tyson and Pilgrim's Pride had been in a bidding war to buy Hillshire, but Pilgrim's withdrew its bid.
European markets were mostly edging higher in morning trading.
Asian markets all ended with gains. The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose by 0.3% after official GDP figures for the first quarter were revised to show the economy grew at a stronger than expected rate of 1.6% compared to the last quarter of 2013. The previous estimate for GDP growth was 1.5%
Oil prices acquired 79 cents to $103.45 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $4.10 to $1,256.60 U.S. an ounce.
