Stock futures pointed to a modestly higher opening for equities in Canada as oil prices rose on a report of another fall in U.S. crude oil inventories and a weaker U.S. dollar
The S&P/TSX Composite recovered 11.49 points to close Wednesday at 14,231.06
The Canadian dollar gained 0.24 cents to 77.4 cents U.S. early Thursday
Bombardier Inc is reportedly under less pressure to ink new orders for its CSeries jet at a major European air show next week after receiving orders from Delta Air Lines and Air Canada. Those two deals for a combined 120 narrowbody planes enabled Bombardier to surpass its own target of 300 CSERIES orders by the time the new jet enters service this month.
Dominion Diamond’s CEO says the company is keeping an eye out for acquisitions in Canada where some prospects are "very encouraging” Dominion also said that Chief Financial Officer Ron Cameron would step down on July 15 and Vice President Group Controller Cara Allaway would take over as interim CFO.
Paramount Resources has agreed to sell some of its Deep Basin oil and gas properties in Alberta to Seven Generations Energy for about $1.9 billion. The divestiture is the latest example of struggling oil and gas producers selling off assets in a bid to survive the global crude price rout, which has lasted since mid-June.
Paradigm Capital revised the rating on Thompson Creek Metals Company to tender from hold stating that growing concerns surrounding the overleveraged balance sheet overshadow the improvements at the Mt. Milligan Mine.
Raymond James cut the target price on Western Forest Products to $2.50 from $2.75 to reflect lower the negative pressure of a stronger U.S. dollar on companies’ earnings.
Postmedia Network Canada reports earnings today, expecting a full-year loss of three cents per share
Sandvine expects Q2 earnings of three cents per share
On the economic agenda, Statistics Canada reports that building permits registered $6.8 billion in May, down 1.9% from the previous month. Lower construction intentions for commercial buildings in Quebec and Ontario and single-family homes in Ontario contributed most to the decrease.
Later on this morning, Western University releases its IVEY Purchasing Managers Index for June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 7.56 points Wednesday to 757.65
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were still negative early Thursday, following a big rally on Wednesday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faded 15 points, or 0.1%, to 17,819, while futures for the S&P 500 fell 2.25 points, or 0.1%, to 2,091.75. NASDAQ futures dipped three points, or 0.1%, to 4,436.50.
PepsiCo is the main company reporting earnings Thursday. The results are due out before the opening bell.
Shares in French dairy firm Danone are rising Thursday after the company announced a multi-billion dollar deal to buy WhiteWave Foods. The Denver-based firm makes dairy alternatives such as Silk, So Delicious and Alpro.
On the economic front, there's plenty of employment data coming through. The ADP Employment Change report for June is out this morning. Then, the U.S. Department of Labor is releasing the latest weekly data on unemployment claims.
The U.S. government will release its latest crude oil inventory data at 11 a.m. ET.
A report from last week showed U.S. oil inventories are starting to shrink. This marks a dramatic shift from just a few months ago when fears were rising that the U.S. was running out of room to store all the crude being pumped.
European markets are rebounding following steep drops on Wednesday. Most indexes are up by about 1.5%.
Asian markets ended the day with mixed results. The main indexes in Hong Kong and Korea posted gains while the Nikkei in Japan dropped by 0.7%.
Oil prices hiked 54 cents to $47.97 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices ditched $2.70 to $1,364.40 U.S. an ounce.
