Stock futures pointed to a lower start for markets in Canada’s largest centre on Friday as crude futures fell more than 2% ahead of an oil producers' meeting in Doha to rein in a global glut.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index loosed 3.06 points to close Thursday at 13,668.29, with June futures down 0.2%.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.2 cents to 77.64 cents U.S. early Friday.
Mitel Networks said on Friday it would buy fellow voice and telephony gear maker Polycom for about $1.96 billion in cash and stock, satisfying a demand from hedge fund Elliott Management.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has reportedly brought in investment banks to review its options amid interest from buyout firms and other companies in a number of its businesses
CIBC raised the price target on Canadian Natural Resources to $47.00 from $40.00
CIBC raised the price target on Husky Energy to $19.00 from $16.00
CIBC cut the price target on Shaw Communications to $27.00 from $29.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales for February slumped 3.3% to $51.2 billion, following three months of consecutive gains.
The Canadian Real Estate Association was due out this morning with its March home sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange moved forward 3.7 points to 625.42
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are looking soft to end the week.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faded 25 points, or 0.1%, to 17,817, while futures for the S&P 500 eased 3.75 points, or 0.2%, to 2,072.75. NASDAQ futures dipped eight points, or 0.2%, to 4,538.25.
Citigroup will post earnings before the opening bell rings.
The Federal Reserve will issue a March report on industrial production and capacity utilization at 9:15 a.m. ET. Industrial production was down 1% in February from a year earlier.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for April comes out at 10 a.m.
New data shows China's economy grew at its slowest pace in seven years during this year’s first quarter.
Gross domestic product expanded by 6.7% in the three months ended March, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics, just above the 6.6% growth economists expected
Major oil producers are due to meet in Qatar on Sunday to discuss possible production freezes in an effort to boost global prices.
Oil prices fell 92 cents to $40.58 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices regained $2.57 to $1,230.46 U.S. an ounce.
