Futures on Canada’s main stock market pointed to a flat opening on Thursday, a day after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed policymakers were divided over whether to raise interest rates soon.
The S&P/TSX Composite fought to within 5.84 points of breakeven to close Wednesday at 14,697.60. Futures were down 0.02% Thursday morning.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.09 cents to 77.96 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Pacific Exploration & Production said on Wednesday that a majority of its creditors approved a restructuring plan, which will help it emerge from bankruptcy.
Barclays raises target price on Bank of Montreal to $75 from $70 with an underweight rating
National Bank Financial upped the target on NorthWest Healthcare to $11.00 from $10.50
Canaccord Genuity raised the target on TransGlobe Energy to $4.00 from $3.00 with a buy rating
On the economic scene, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investors increased their holdings of Canadian securities by $9.0 billion in June, with acquisitions led by significant portfolio investment in equities. At the same time, Canadian investors acquired $4.1 billion of foreign securities, mainly non-U.S. foreign equities.
What’s more, the agency went on to say those drawing regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in Canada totaled 545,900 in June, essentially unchanged from May. Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of people receiving regular EI benefits was up by 8,000 or 1.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 10.07 points Wednesday to 828.48
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are holding steady Thursday from where they left off on Wednesday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 16 points or 0.1%, to 18,525, while futures for the S&P 500 faded three points, or 0.1%, at 2,176.75. NASDAQ futures dipped 9.75 points, or 0.2 %, to 4,794.25
A number of major retailers are reporting earnings Thursday, including Wal-Mart.
The retail giant will release quarterly earnings ahead of the open, giving investors a look at how it's faring against e-commerce firms and traditional bricks-and-mortar competitors. The results come just after the firm agreed to spend $3.3 billion U.S. to acquire upstart e-commerce competitor Jet.com.
Meanwhile, retailers Gap and Ross Stores will post results after the close.
Cisco is in focus after the company confirmed that it will slash 5,500 jobs, or about 7% of its total workforce. The move should help it cut costs and make room for investments in trendy areas like cloud computing and the Internet of Things.
The layoffs, while significant, are smaller than had been rumored. Pre-market trading indicates Cisco shares could dip a bit at the open.
European markets are all inching up in early trading, while Asian markets are closing with mixed results.
Oil prices added 26 cents to $47.05 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices added $5.10 at $1,353.90 U.S. an ounce.
