Futures pointed to a higher start for Canada's main stock index on Friday as metal prices rose and oil prices stayed close to $50.00 U.S. per barrel.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index acquired 73.45 points to close Thursday at 14,136.99. The index is up almost 9% on the year. June futures gained 0.3% Friday morning.
The Canadian dollar added 0.06 to 76.42 cents early Friday
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc and Japan's Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd have submitted indicative offers to acquire U.S. convenience store retailer CST Brands.
Shareholders of Australian ports and rail freight giant Asciano Ltd voted for a A$9.1 billion ($6.6 billion) buyout by a global consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc, leaving the company's future in the hands of regulators.
National Bank Financial raised the price target on Canadian Western Bank to $23.00 from $22.00 with an underperform rating
CIBC raised the target price on Saputo to $44.00 from $40.00
CIBC then raised the target price on Trican Well Service to $2.25 from $1.75
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that our exports increased 1.5% to $41.8 billion in April. Export prices were up 1.1% and volumes rose 0.5%. Imports increased 0.9% to $44.7 billion, as volumes were up 0.8% and prices edged up 0.1%.
As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $3.2 billion in March to $2.9 billion in April.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.31 points Thursday to 678.33
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are treading water immediately following May’s jobs report.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 20 points, or 0.1%, to 17,845, while futures for the S&P 500 moved up one point, or 0.1%, to 2,104.75. NASDAQ futures faded 0.75 points to 4,531.50.
Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that non-farm payrolls added just 38,000 jobs last month, lowering the unemployment rate to 4.7%, the lowest since 2007.
Economists predicted 159,000 jobs were created last month, down slightly from the 160,000 new jobs added in April.
They also projected the unemployment rate to edge down to 4.9% from 5% in April.
Several economists believe U.S. job growth was hurt last month by the Verizon employee strike. About 36,000 Verizon workers went on strike for six weeks, demanding better pay and work conditions. Last week, the company and its employees reached an agreement after the U.S. Labor Department intervened.
Wall Street is focusing on Facebook right now after the company asked shareholders to vote on a new proposal regarding CEO Mark Zuckerberg's control of the company.
If the proposal is approved, Zuckerberg's majority voting control would be terminated if he steps down or no longer occupies a leadership position at the firm.
Twitter and Yahoo are in the spotlight after the New York Post reported the two companies had considered merging.
Yahoo began accepting takeover bids last month. Tech and media companies, and private equity firms, have taken a look at the company.
European markets are pushing higher in early trading, while Asian markets all closed out the week with gains.
Oil prices doffed 15 cents to $49.02 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices picked up $1.44 to $1,212.44 U.S. an ounce.
