Canada’s main stock index tracked gains in U.S. stock index futures after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated that a rate hike is still possible this year.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 45.02 points Thursday to 13,338.67
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.09 cents at 75.07 cents U.S. early Friday
BlackBerry Ltd. reported a second-quarter adjusted loss on Friday as the company's turnaround continued and it attempted to boost revenue from its software division. Excluding one-time items like a non-cash credit tied to the value of debentures and restructuring charges, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a quarterly loss of $66 million, or 13 cents a share.
Including the impact of the non-cash gain, in the period ended Aug. 29, it earned a net profit of $51 million. Quarterly revenue fell 46.5% to $490 million in the period.
Silver Wheaton Corp. said it received reassessment notices from Canada's tax authorities, ordering the mining financing company to pay $353 million in back taxes.
The Vancouver-based company said the notices are consistent with the proposal it had received in July from the revenue agency to tax about $715 million of income earned by its foreign units between 2005 and 2010.
Raymond James cut the target price on Calfrac Well Services to $4.50 from $5.00 due to a slower-than expected ramp up in Argentina and some redoubled challenges in its U.S. operations.
Vecima Networks reports Q4 earning, expecting 14 cents per share
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eased 1.01 points Thursday to 544.20
ON WALLSTREET
Markets are looking perky Friday morning, holding out the prospect of an upbeat end to a rough week.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials bolted 226 points, or 1.4%, to 16,325, futures for the S&P 500 gained 24.5 points, or 1.3%, to 1,943.25, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 50.5 points, or 1.2%, to 4,296.5.
The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus hit stores Friday, with Apple fans around the world camping out in line to become some of the first owners of the new devices.
The company has said it expects to beat last year's first-weekend record sales of 10 million units.
Nike stock is up nearly 8% pre-market after the company reported strong earnings Thursday afternoon. The report helped rivals too -- Adidas was trading 3.5% higher in Europe, while Under Armour also got a lift, climbing 2% after hours.
Blackberry and Finish Line are reporting before the opening bell.
The U.S. government will issue new estimates for second-quarter GDP at 8:30 a.m. ET. Initial numbers showed it improved after lackluster results from the first three months of 2015.
Then, at 10 a.m. ET, the University of Michigan will post its final estimate for September consumer sentiment. First readings of the index showed a dip from August levels.
All major European indexes are trading more than 2% higher, and U.S. stock futures are pointing to a positive start as investors welcome Janet Yellen's explanation of the Fed's decision not to hike rates last week.
The German automaker is expected to promote Porsche chief Matthias Mueller to group CEO as it struggles to get control of a crisis over falsified U.S. emissions tests. Media reports say Mueller will be named Friday as successor to Martin Winterkorn, who quit Wednesday.
Volkswagen is also under huge pressure to provide more details about whether European tests were also deliberately manipulated, and to identify who was responsible for the misconduct. Its shares were trading 1% higher in Europe, but have lost about 25% since the scandal broke a week ago.
Oil prices hiked 41 cents to $45.32 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices faded $10.70 to $1,143.10 U.S. an ounce.
