Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for stock markets in this country on Thursday as oil prices edged up after two consecutive days of losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite maintained a gain of 17.17 points to close Wednesday at 14,366.27. December futures moved up 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar squeezed up 0.01 cents at 75.88 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Dundee Capital cuts the rating on Canadian Zinc to neutral from buy
CIBC raised the target price on Industrial Alliance Insurance to $51.00 from $46.00
CIBC raised the target price on Sun Life Financial to $47.00 from $46.00
On the economic slate, the Canadian Real Estate Association’s national home sales were due out for August this morning.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 5.18 points Wednesday to 802.35
ON WALLSTREET
Markets in the States are looking for a brighter open Thursday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials boosted 74 points, or 0.4%, to 17,994, while futures for the S&P 500 progressed nine points, or 0.4%, at 2,122.25. NASDAQ futures moved up 20.5 points, or 0.4%, at 4,749.
Amid recent market volatility, investors are rushing to Apple. Its shares are edging higher again in pre-market trading after surging by roughly 10% over the last three trading days, adding about $54 billion U.S. to its market capitalization.
Wall Street is also excited about strong sales reports for the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Apple has already sold out of its initial stock of the jet black iPhone 7.
Oracle is set to break the lull in quarterly numbers when it reports results after Thursday's closing bell.
U.S. retail sales data are due this morning from the Census Bureau. Wall Street will be looking to see if Americans ramped up spending in August. A decline in auto sales could hurt the overall result.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump is speaking at the Economic Club of New York at 11:15 a.m. ET.
Wall Street will be monitoring his speech as he's expected to offer more clarity on his economic policy promises.
Most European markets are trading slightly higher too, while Asian markets ended the day mixed.
The Bank of England is announcing a decision on interest rates on Thursday.
The U.K. central bank revived a bond-buying stimulus program and slashed interest rates in August in an effort to offset the turmoil created by the Brexit vote in late June.
Oil prices gained 35 cents to $43.93 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices eked up 10 cents to $1,326.20 U.S. an ounce.
