Canada's main stock index was set to open lower on Friday as oil prices fell more than 2% and investors prepared for a possible rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve next week.
The S&P/TSX composite index moved higher 38.04 points to close Thursday at 13,569.89
The Canadian dollar sank 0.06 cents to 75.39 cents U.S. early Friday
BRP Inc reported a surprise adjusted profit for the second quarter, helped by higher sales of propulsions engines, accessories and clothing.
Canada's transport regulator has ordered Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd to address a new alleged safety violation after it found the company was not carrying out a mandatory brake safety test on some of its trains in Western Canada, according to a letter obtained by Reuters.
Raymond James cut the target price on Empire Co to $92.00 from $99.00
National Bank Financial raised the target price on Sun Life Financial to $47.00 from $46.00
Desjardins raised the target price on Transat AT to $15.00 from $13.00
RBC raised the target price on Dollarama to $96.00 from $90.00
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.07 points Thursday to 549.28
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are edging down and European markets are dipping in early trading. Asian markets closed with mixed results.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dropped 48 points, or 0.3%, to 16,157, futures for the S&P 500 sagged 6.5 points or 0.3%, to 1,933.25, and futures for the NASDAQ dipped 20 points, or 0.5%, to 4,243.
A few companies will open their earnings books before Friday trading begins. Mattress Firm and Kroger are among them.
On the economic side, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its producer price index for August at 8:30 a.m. ET. This index is a key inflation indicator. Prices were up 0.2% in July.
Then, at 10 a.m. ET, the University of Michigan will put out September's consumer sentiment index.
In commodities, crude oil futures are dipping by about 2% to trade around $45 U.S. per barrel. The chances of another slump in prices to near $20 U.S. per barrel are rising, Goldman Sachs said in a new report Friday.
But the International Energy Agency said the supply glut should ease in 2016 as OPEC's rivals -- and in particular the U.S. -- slash production.
Oil prices fell $1.10 to $44.82 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices moved backwards $4.10 to $1,105.20 U.S. an ounce.
