Futures for stocks in Canada’s largest market were slightly higher on Thursday as investors awaited for the outcome of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 2.09 points to close Wednesday at 14,063.69. Futures were ahead 0.1% early Thursday.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.2 cents to 76.27 cents early Thursday
Suncor Energy's gas stations across Canada's western provinces were grappling with fuel shortages because of wildfire-triggered production cuts along with an unplanned unit outage at the company's Edmonton refinery
Raymond James raised the price target on Husky Energy to $16.00 from $15.00, with a market perform rating
Citigroup raised the target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank to $65.00 from $60.00, with a buy rating.
Barclays raised the price target on National Bank of Canada to $41.00 from $38.00, with an equal weight rating.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 2.15 points Wednesday to 675.94
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are looking a bit weighed down ahead of the bell
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials retreated 23 points, or 0.1%, to 17,756 while futures for the S&P 500 backtracked 3.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,094.75. NASDAQ futures gave back 5.5 points, or 0.1%, to 4,516.
On the earnings front, Broadcom and teen clothing maker Zumiez will report quarterly results after the close.
The Challenger report on U.S. job cuts in May is out this morning. Then the latest ADP report on employment changes in May will be released, followed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly update on jobless claims.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release national crude oil inventory data at 11 a.m. ET.
Many of the biggest oil exporting nations in the world are meeting at OPEC headquarters in Vienna to discuss production levels.
OPEC is now pumping oil at near-record levels of 32.7 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. Four Gulf producers -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar -- make up just over half of the output.
Some OPEC members are hoping to agree to cap production, but there are still deep divisions in the oil cartel, and the pressure to act has eased now oil prices have rebounded to around $50.00 per barrel.
The European Central Bank is issuing its latest decisions on monetary policy and economic stimulus.
Economists don't expect any shift in policy, but markets will still be interested to see if ECB President Mario Draghi gives indications about his future plans and economic outlook.
European markets are mixed in early trading.
Asian markets ended the day with scattered results. Chinese markets posted small gains while the Nikkei index in Japan dropped by 2.3% as the yen strengthened versus all major global currencies.
Oil prices dipped four cents to $48.97 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices progressed $2.67 to $1,215.65 U.S. an ounce.
