Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada's main stock index as gold prices continued to drop, pushing the metal's prices to their lowest level since early 2010
The S&P/TSX composite index slid 41.75 points to close Thursday at 14,265.37
The Canadian dollar hurtled lower 0.36 cents to 76.34 cents U.S. early Friday
Encana posted a second-quarter loss, compared with a year-ago profit, hurt by an impairment charge of about $1.3 billion. It reported a net loss of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared with a year-ago profit of $271 million.
BlackBerry on Thursday showcased a suite of security products that safeguard everything from medical devices to Hollywood movie scripts, though its CEO John Chen acknowledged that his effort to transform the company remains a work in progress.
Barclays raised the price target on Loblaw Companies to $75.00 from $72.00 as the company’s second-quarter earnings beat consensus.
Cowen and Company cut the price target on the U.S. listed shares of Teck Resources to $8.00 from $14.00 on cautious outlook, estimates fall on sharp commodity price declines and lower volume.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dumped 10.66 points Thursday to 598.10
ON WALLSTREET
Futures are edging up ahead of another busy day for earnings.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials inched up three points to 17,679, futures for the S&P gained 0.50 points, to 2,099, and futures for the NASDAQ took on 5.25 points, or 0.1%, to 4,625.25.
Amazon shares bolted up by about 18% in extended trading after it released better-than-expected earnings on Thursday.
If the shares hold onto those gains at the open, Amazon's market capitalization could trounce Wal-Mart's, making it the biggest retailer by value in the world.
Shares in Visa look set for a 5% pop at the open after its earnings beat analyst forecasts. And Starbucks shares are up about 4% pre-market after reporting earnings Thursday afternoon.
But disappointing results from TripAdvisor sent its stock tumbling, down about 9% in extended trading.
Anthem has announced it is acquiring Cigna for $54.2 billion U.S.
The health insurance sector is going through a shake-up as Obamacare pressures company profits.
Just three weeks ago, Aetna reached a $34-billion U.S. deal to buy Humana.
Quarterly earnings are expected from companies including American Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Xerox before the market opens.
On the economic side, the U.S. Census Bureau will report new home sales data for June at 10 a.m. ET. Numbers from May showed home sales were at their highest level since 2008.
European markets are broadly in positive territory in early trading
However, Asian markets ended the week with losses as investors react to some disappointing economic data.
An early reading of China's manufacturing activity for the month of July came in below analyst expectations. At 48.2, the flash reading was the lowest in 15 months, and indicates that factories in the world's second-largest economy are losing momentum.
Oil prices added 15 cents to $48.60 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices shed $17 at $1,077.10 U.S. an ounce.
