Equities in Canada’s biggest market were flat on Thursday, as investors digested economic data on the last trading day of the quarter.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 77.75 points to close Wednesday at 13,503.98. June futures trailed 0.01% Thursday morning.
The index is on track for a second straight month of gains, something it hasn’t accomplished since February 2015.
The Canadian dollar gathered 0.39 cents to 77.53 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Cara Operations Ltd, owner of the Swiss Chalet casual dining chain and Harvey's burger outlets, said on Thursday it would buy St-Hubert BBQ, one of Quebec's largest casual dining chains, for $537 million.
Desjardins raised the target price on Dollarama to $97.00 from $91.00
Desjardins raised the rating on Detour Gold to buy from hold.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that January’s Gross Domestic Product rose 0.6%, a fourth consecutive monthly increase. The agency attributes the rise to manufacturing, retail trade, and mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
Moreover, StatsCan said, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $953 in January, down 0.7% from December. Compared with 12 months earlier, average weekly earnings were up 0.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 0.33 points Wednesday to 576.88
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are dipping on the last day of the first quarter, after the U.S. stock market hit its highest level of 2016 on Wednesday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials pointed upward 12 points, or 0.1%, to 17,634, futures for the S&P 500 eked up 0.75 points to 2,056. NASDAQ futures acquired one point to 4,483.
The Dow is currently up 1.7% for the year after enduring steep losses in January. The S&P 500 has also notched a 1% gain, while the NASDAQ is still in negative territory for the year, down 2.8%.
Tesla investors are hoping for a successful launch of the new Model 3 electric car, which will be unveiled this evening in California. Tesla is trying to have more mass market appeal with this vehicle by giving it a lower price point, around $35,000 U.S.
European markets are all firmly in the red in early trading, while Asian stocks were mixed.
Oil prices dipped 13 cents to $38.19 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices jumped $8.27 to $1,233.29 U.S. an ounce.
