Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday, with Brent crude oil's decline likely to weigh on energy companies.
The S&P/TSX composite index added 31.52 points, to end Thursday at 14,770.72. March futures sank 0.2% Friday.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.32 to 78.47 cents U.S. early Friday.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday that Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway have such huge market power that they cannot be allowed to dictate how Canada's grain shipment backlog is cleared
National Bank Financial cut the rating on Colabor Group to sector perform from outperform.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Tricon Capital to $11.00 from $10.00 with a buy rating
CIBC cut the rating on Empire Co. to sector perform from outperform.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the number of jobs was virtually unchanged in February, but the unemployment rate eked up 0.2 percentage points to 6.8%, with more people looking for work.
In the 12 months to February, employment increased by 130,000, or 0.7%, with most of the growth in the second half of the period.
Harper also said Thursday that Canada's federal budget will show a deficit of just over $2 billion in the current fiscal year and will be balanced in the year starting April 1.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 3.79 points Thursday to 673.42
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are stuck in downward territory and global markets are broadly steady.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faded 46 points, or 0.3%, to 17,746. Futures for the S&P 500 sank 4.75 points, or 0.2%, to 2,051.75, and futures for the NASDAQ dipped 5.75 points, or 0.1%, to 4,319.
Economically speaking, the University of Michigan will post its consumer sentiment index at 10 a.m. ET.
Germany's Commerzbank has agreed to pay nearly $1.5 billion to U.S. authorities to settle a case related to sanctions and money laundering. Shares in the bank were rising by about 5% in Europe as investors expressed relief that the bank could now move on after a long investigation.
Business records indicate the banking violations occurred between 2002 and 2008.
The Russian central bank cut interest rates Friday, down to 14% from 15%.
The central bank hiked rates to 17% late last year to defend the falling currency. But since January, it's been trimming rates to try to prevent a protracted economic slump.
Oil prices fell 97 cents to $46.08 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices moved upward $2.30 to $1,154.20 U.S. an ounce.
